Objective:To investigate the public's psychological symptoms and changing trend during the COVID-19 epidemic.Methods:A 10-item self-report instrument was developed to measure the overall psychological symptoms and 10 specific mental health symptoms for the public.A total of 118 771 online questionnaires were collected during the epidemic.Results:There were significant gender,age and health differences in psychological status and mental health symptoms.Males reported significantly lower mental health symptoms than females(P