Before revision: In this work we report that the public reacted on social media at an early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in a surprisingly accurate way , with activity levels reflecting the severity of the contagion figures registered almost a month later.
After revision: In this work we report that the public reacted on social media at an early stage of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the virus responsible of COVID-19, in a surprisingly accurate way , with activity levels reflecting the severity of the contagion figures registered almost a month later.