Objective  To explore public trust in medical staff and its change during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic and to provide evidences for improving doctor-patient trust in China.

  Methods  Using a self-designed questionnaire and snowball sampling, we conducted a three-day online anonymous survey during COVID-19 epidemic (February 24 – 26, 2020) among 2 100 internet users in 31 provincial-level regions across China.

  Results  A high level of trust in medical staff was reported by 2 065 participants with valid responses, with dimensional scores (maximum score of 5 for all dimensions) of 4.33 ± 0.72 for overall trust in doctors, 4.25 ± 0.72 for trust in medical skills, 3.27 ± 0.70 for trust in medical ethics of the staff, 4.15 ± 0.69 for overall trust in nurses, 3.98 ± 0.69 for trust in nurses′ competence, and 3.88 ± 0.75 for trust in nurses′ attitude, respectively. The majority of the participants expressed positive attitude towards improving the welfare of frontline medical staff. The participant′s trust scores of different dimensions differed significantly by their gender, age, educational background and occupation (P < 0.05 for all). Under the context of COVID-19 epidemic, an increased trust in medical staff was reported by 56.17% of the participants and the participants of female gender, at middle and older age, and with lower educational background were more likely to report the increased trust (all P < 0.05); hard working in frontline services was a main factor for the increased trust attributed by the participants.

  Conclusion   The level of public trust in medical staff improved under the context of COVID-19 epidemic but realizing mutual trust between doctors and patients is still a core issue in the reformation of health care system in China.