question: The 2019 global outbreak of COVID-19 has had a huge impact on public health governance systems around the world. In response, numerous scholars have conducted research on public health governance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper provides a bibliometric analysis of 1437 documents retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) core collection database, with 49,695 references. It analyses the research directions, countries of publications, core journals, leading authors and institutions and important publications. The paper also summarises research trends by analysing the co-occurrence of keywords, frequently cited documents and co-cited references. It summarises the global responses to COVID-19, including public health interventions and a range of supporting policies based on the features and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper provides comprehensive literary support and clear lines of research for future studies on the governance or regulation of public health emergencies.