Coronavirus: what do Americans think about the pandemic?
The U.S. has been an epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic and over the last few weeks there has been a fresh spike of confirmed cases across the country.
As early as 1 May many states started a four-phase plan to reopen the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and Texas was the first to give businesses the green light. Since reopening there has been an alarming increase in new Covid-19 cases across the country: as of 30 June the U.S. has more than 2.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and the death toll is nearing 130,000.
That is why many states have taken drastic measures to close down some sectors anew and to enforce stricter rules to stop the spread of the virus. California closed down all bars in several counties, while Florida is fining people up to $500 for not wearing a face mask in public.
Americans' opinion of the pandemic
Trump’s administration has been heavily criticized for its handling of the pandemic because the US president was active in pressuring governors from several states to reopen the economy as early as late April.
Even though health experts advised Trump against reopening the country too early over fears of a second wave, he nonetheless pressured several states to end their quarantine periods and send Americans back to work amid the outbreak.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, many Americans see conspiracy theories and partisanship in Covid-19 news. During this study, 64% of U.S. adults said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health organizations mostly get facts about the outbreak right.
However, only 30% had the same opinion about Trump and his administration, giving the US president and his advisors the lowest rating for “getting the facts right” among five key sources of Covid-19 information. The Pew Center survey was conducted among 9,654 American adults between 4-20 June.
Additionally, as the outbreak continues in many areas of the US, the percentage of Americans who say they are following news about the coronavirus outbreak very closely is steadily declining. Nearly six out of 10 (57%) of those surveyed said they were closely following Covid-19 news in late March, but that figure has dropped considerably since then.