Ballot: eight in 10 Individuals Favor strict shelter in place Orders To Restrict coronavirus symptoms’ Unfold, and Most Say They May Proceed to Obey Such Orders for One other Month or Longer
Ballot: eight in 10 Individuals Favor strict shelter in place Orders To Restrict coronavirus symptoms
With President Trump and some Republican governors pushing to get the country’s economy going again, the majority of the public (80%) support tough protections strict shelter in place Restrict coronavirus symptoms
of the coronavirus, compared to just a fifth (19%) who specifies these measures According to the latest survey by KFF Health Tracking, they are unnecessary burdens and cause more harm than good.
The majority of Republicans (61%), Independents (84%) and Democrats (94%) support the placement orders, although four in 10 Republicans (38%) say such orders do more harm than good. Even in states with Republican governors, more Republicans say the tough measures are worth it (63%) than they do more harm than good (36%).
Republicans are now more optimistic than Democrats and Independents that the crisis is getting better. A small majority of Republicans (53%) now believe “the worst is behind” while most Democrats (64%) and Independents (56%) believe “the worst is yet to come”.
About half of the public (51%) say the worst is yet to come, up from 74% three weeks ago. The growing optimism of Republicans is a major reason for this shift.
eight in 10 Individuals Favor strict shelter in place Orders To Restrict coronavirus symptoms
Most adults report that they have not left home at all in the past week to visit close friends or family members (70%), go to work (67%), or play sports (57%). Roughly one in five (20%) said they never even left home to buy groceries, medicines, or other important household items. A third (34%) of all adults say they have been classified as “essential workers”, which means that they must continue to work outside of their home.
Three in four Americans (76%) said they bought or made a protective mask that they could wear in public. This is in line with many state-issued social distancing guidelines. Those who live in counties where more than 25 people have died from COVID-19 are more likely to report themselves than those in counties with 5 or fewer deaths using a mask (82% versus 69%).
Eight out of ten respondents say they could stay there for at least another month, including a third (34%) who say they could do so for at least six months. Fewer Republicans say they can do this for at least a month (68%) or at least six months (25%), while more say they can do this for less than a month (26%) or not at all (4%) can. .
Public division over willingness to use smartphone apps to track potential contacts with infected people
Public health officials say tracking and monitoring the contacts of infected people is a key element of any plan to contain the COVID-19 pandemic once people return to work, school and everyday life. Some have discussed using people’s smartphones to aid this effort.
The survey found that the public disagreed on whether to download an app on their phone to notify them when they come into close contact with an infected person (50% would, 47% would not) or to keep them close to share with public health authorities in support of follow-up efforts (45% would, 53% would not).
There are strong party-political differences on these issues. About a third of Republicans (35%) would be willing to download an app to notify them when they come into contact with an infected person, and three in ten Republicans (29%) would be willing to download an app to help health officials assist in tracking the spread of the outbreak. Much larger proportions of most Democrats say they are willing to download an app for both purposes (63% and 58%, respectively).
Younger adults are generally more willing to use contract tracking apps than older adults. For example, more than half (53%) of 18-29 year olds and only 36% of those over 65 are willing to download an app to share contact information with public health officials.
“The mixed willingness to use volunteer contact tracing apps means they can be an important tool in fighting the pandemic but are not a substitute for old-fashioned contact tracing,” said Drew Altman, President and CEO of KFF.
The survey found that arguments linking the use of such contact tracking apps to people’s ability to return to work and allowing companies to reopen can increase people’s willingness to use them. Two thirds (66%) say they would be willing to use them after hearing such arguments. In contrast, an argument about the risk of such information being hacked lowers the willingness to use such apps to 28%.
eight in 10 Individuals Favor strict shelter in place Orders To Restrict coronavirus symptoms
People are roughly twice as likely to say they would be willing to download an app for these purposes if it is managed by their state health department (63%), federal centers for disease control and prevention (62%), or their local health department (62%) as if it was managed by a private technology company (31%).
While the majority of Democrats and Independents and about half of Republicans are willing to download a contract tracking app if the data was managed by the CDC or their state or local health department, fewer than four in ten Democrats (37%) a third of independents and a quarter of Republicans (26%) say they would be willing to download such an app if the data was managed by a private tech company.
Further results are:
- About four in ten Americans (39%) say they know someone personally who “tested positive for coronavirus” (24%) or who thinks they have or have had coronavirus but failed to get tested (29%) . Around one in ten (9%) say they know someone personally who has died as a result.
- Seven in ten adults (72%) say they would likely use a coronavirus testing kit that they could use at home and then send it to a lab to find out if they have the virus. This includes majorities across age groups and the identification of partisans.
- Most Americans give themselves and the people in their household either an “A” (53% and 52%) or a “B” (37% and 31%) for the past two weeks of local social distancing guidelines to be followed. A smaller majority give their neighbors an “A” (35%) or “B” (35%).
The survey was designed and analyzed by pollsters from the KFF and conducted from April 15-20, 2020 among a nationwide representative sample of 1,202 adults with free choice. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (261) and mobile phone (941). The margin of error in the sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the entire sample. Results based on subgroups may have a higher sampling error rate.
KFF will be releasing additional results from this survey in the coming days related to the impact of the crisis on Americans’ mental health and finances.
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