*2.1. Study Participants and Method of Participation*

The online semi-structured questionnaire was developed in Arabic by using Google forms, with a consent form appended to it. The link for the questionnaire was sent through various social media platforms (emails, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit). Participants over 18 years old, who agreed to use the online application, were included in this study. Once the link was clicked, the participants were automatically transferred to the information related to the study. Informed consent and demographic details were obtained from all participants. The set of questions of the 15–20 min survey appeared in sequence, which the participants had to answer. The survey questions were designed to assess anxiety and depression in COVID-19 patients and coping strategies for dealing with COVID-19. At the end of the questionnaire, participants had the option to get their results via phone, email, WhatsApp, or other contact methods (optional). Participants also receive

some personalized advice according to their results. The data collection was initiated on 20 May 2020 at 1 p.m. and closed on 7 July 2020 at 8 a.m. Data were collected from different governorates in Egypt.

Participants could withdraw from the survey at any moment without providing any justification, and no data was saved. Only data from complete responses to questionnaires were included in our study.
