Although America generally welcomes CDC relaxing COVID restrictions with apparent relief, Alison Durkee in Forbes casts a different light. Because she says American optimism about the pandemic is actually fading fast. Could this really be the case: Is average American optimism about COVID plunging? We investigate and review the facts.
How Badly is American COVID Optimism Plunging?
Alison Durkee, writing in Forbes on August 10, 2022 cites a recent Gallup Poll about the U.S. COVID situation we link to below. This suggests ‘a growing share’ of Americans believe things are growing worse, not getting better. Yet conversely, they are taking fewer precautions despite accepting they are now more at risk of catching the disease.
- Firstly, only 41% of Americans believe the situation is improving, compared to 63% in April.
- Moreover, 23% believe infections will increase ‘a great deal’ during this fall and winter.
- While a further 43% expect ‘a moderate increase’ with a scant 8% expecting they will ‘go down’.
- Just 20% of respondents are ‘very confident’ of their ability to protect themselves from COVID in public.
- And that number is significantly lower than the 36% trusting in their ability to do so last April.
- However, only 35% of Americans were worried about contracting COVID in the latest poll.
Do Americans Believe Things Are Getting Back to Normal?
Despite their concerns about infection numbers, Americans generally believe the overall situation is improving:
- Some 55% of them believe their lives are “somewhat back to normal”.
- Yet 56% agree the COVID-19 virus is continuing to “disrupt their lives”.
- However, only 24% believe their lives are “completely back to normal”.
And finally, only 47% of Americans wore a face mask last week. A third of them, at best, are still avoiding public places, public transportation, and large crowds. So yes we could say with some confidence that American optimism about COVID is plunging. But they have not apparently changed their behavior to a significant extent.
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