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In this paper, blunt slogans used in China's health campaign against coronavirus are closely examined and the public's conflicting comments on them are analyzed. These slogans, due to their extreme effectiveness in making the public comply with the health preventive measures suggested by the government, are called Yinghe or "hardcore" slogans by the Chinese people. Containing harsh and taboo language, they convey threats of death and disease, insults or negative evaluation, and harsh demands. Despite their impolite nature, "hardcore" slogans have received significantly more positive judgment than negative judgment, especially when they made their debut in rural areas in Henan, an agricultural province in China. Criticism towards these blunt slogans then gradually increased after their initial appearance. Plausible factors contributing to the change of judgment are analyzed. The public's conflicting judgment regarding the impoliteness of the slogans may be related to the public's different positioning across time and space. This study shows that impoliteness is a practice situated not only in discourse, genres, and institutions, but also in social, cultural, and political contexts. More attention should be paid to impoliteness in special social configurations (e.g., rural areas) and social emergencies, which not only contextualize a discourse event but also define it. • Impoliteness is situated culturally, politically, temporarily, and spatially. • Impoliteness can be a strategic and appropriate reaction to social emergencies. • Distinction between rural and urban settings is relevant to impoliteness studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Almost all currently infected COVID-19 patients in Henan province were analyzed. • COVID-19 patients in Henan province show gender and age preferences, migrant workers or college students are at high risk. • The incubation period was statistically estimated. • The state transition diagram can reveal the time-phased nature of the COVID-19 epidemic. • Network analysis reveals the aggregate outbreak phenomena of COVID-19. COVID-19 is spreading quickly all over the world. Publicly released data for 1212 COVID-19 patients in Henan of China were analyzed in this paper. Various statistical and network analysis methods were employed. We found that COVID-19 patients show gender (55% vs 45%) and age (81% aged between 21 and 60) preferences; possible causes were explored. The estimated average, mode and median incubation periods are 7.4, 4 and 7 days. Incubation periods of 92% of patients were no more than 14 days. The epidemic in Henan has undergone three stages and has shown high correlations with the numbers of patients recently returned from Wuhan. Network analysis revealed that 208 cases were clustering infected, and various People's Hospitals are the main force in treating COVID-19. The incubation period was statistically estimated, and the proposed state transition diagram can explore the epidemic stages of emerging infectious disease. We suggest that although the quarantine measures are gradually working, strong measures still might be needed for a period of time, since ∼7.45% of patients may have very long incubation periods. Migrant workers or college students are at high risk. State transition diagrams can help us to recognize the time-phased nature of the epidemic. Our investigations have implications for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in other regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]