Americans’ outlook on the Covid-19 pandemic has grown increasingly pessimistic in recent months, according to a new Gallup poll, with a rising percentage believing things are getting worse rather than better, but Even though they believe they are now more at risk from the virus, Americans are taking fewer precautions and returning to normal life.
The survey, conducted july 26 through Aug. 2, found that 41 percent of U. S. adults have a coronavirus situation in the United States is “improving,” up from 63 percent in April.
The percentage of those who think the scenario is getting worse has gone from 15% to 30%, while the percentage of those who say the scenario “remains the same” has risen from 21% to 29%.
Most Americans believe that national cases of COVID-19 will accumulate later this year in the fall and winter: 23% think it will accumulate “a lot” and 43% in a “moderate amount”, and only 8% expect them to pass down.
Only 26% said they were “very confident” they could protect themselves from covid-19 in public, compared to 36% in April and the lowest percentage on record since August 2021, only 35% said they were genuinely worried. .
While the majority of Americans (55%) said their lives had only returned “somewhat” to the general pre-pandemic era and 56% still report that their lives have been affected by covid-19, the percentage of those who say their lives have been “completely” returned to how they had gone from 21% in April to 24% now.
Gallup notes that the percentages of respondents who say they take social distancing precautions are now at traditionally low or near-low levels: only 47% wore a mask in public during the past week, 19% are mostly isolated from other people outdoors. household, and less than a third things like public places (22%), public transport (25%) and large crowds (32%).
33 %. This is the percentage of respondents who said the Covid-19 pandemic is over, while the majority of 67% think it is not. That’s largely equal to the 34% who said the same thing in April, setting an all-time high. top since the pandemic began.
If more new variants of the coronavirus appear and take hold, what 53% of respondents think will happen. However, that’s less than the 68% who said the same thing last year. Only 46% of respondents were at least convinced that existing COVID-19 vaccines can protect against new variants of the coronavirus, up from 71% last year. Although evidence has shown that vaccines do not offer such a strong shield against infection with new variants such as BA. 5, they are still effective in preventing serious illness and death. .
The United States still sees more than 100,000 daily cases of Covid-19 on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, because the highly transmissible BA. 5 variant, which can infect even other people who are already immune to other strainsArray, has become dominant in the United States, cases have decreased somewhat: the United States recorded only about 130,000 daily cases from mid-July to the end of July; positive checks at home. The social distancing ballot reactions come as US mask mandates and other covid-19 restrictions were lifted earlier this year amid emerging case numbers as leaders are pressuring other people to “learn to live with” the coronavirus despite criticism from public fitness experts. This approach. Efforts to reimpose mandatory mask wears in recent months in reaction to emerging Covid-19 measures have failed, with Philadelphia abandoning its mask mandate in April, just days after reinstating it amid lockdowns. public outcry, and Los Angeles backed down on a plan to reimpose its mandatory mask use in July. . Public fitness experts, however, have pleaded with Americans to stay cautious and stay vigilant to avoid contracting the coronavirus, given the threat of “long Covid” and the transmission of the virus to the most vulnerable.
Americans are less positive about COVID-19 (Gallup)
BA. 5 is causing a wave of covid infections, but there are no deaths: here’s why experts say we deserve to be careful (Forbes)
Full Coronavirus Policy and Updates