Coronavirus upends nation, as three in four Americans' lives changed by pandemic: POLL
By: Kendall Karson
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
As a deepening public health crisis rocks the nation, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Friday shows a far different portrait of a country than from only one week ago, as nearly three in four Americans now say their lives have been upended in some way by the novel coronavirus and President Donald Trump's approval for his handling of the outbreak is on the rise.
In the new poll, 55% of Americans approve of the president's management of the crisis, compared to 43% who disapprove. Trump’s approval on this issue is up from last week, when the numbers were nearly reversed. Only 43% approved of Trump's handling of the pandemic and 54% disapproved in last week's poll .
Over the course of a week, the president has shifted his approach and tone, giving daily briefings on the crisis since Saturday, alongside the White House task force leading the response to the coronavirus and announcing some severe measures to combat the virus. He's also taken on a more somber tone, saying of his own tenor "people actually liked it" as the reality of the scale of the virus set in.
This week, 72% said their lives have been disrupted in some way by the coronavirus, either by canceling going out to dinner, taking a vacation, or attending religious services, among other options, a massive 46-point leap from last week when only about one-quarter of Americans said the same.
The poll conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News, using Ipsos’ Knowledge Panel, asked Americans about the disruption to their daily lives amid more urgent efforts to contain the spread of the global pandemic, Trump's response, and their concerns over contracting the virus.
During the two days in which the poll was conducted, the president signed an economic relief bill to help combat the coronavirus, ensuring free testing and paid leave for certain workers, governors and local leaders across the country have imposed more stringent restrictions on travel and day-to-day movements, trading on Wall Street was halted again after the stock market continued to plunge and the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus hiked to over 9,000 across all 50 states.
Anxiety over the coronavirus is widespread, with 79% of Americans saying they are concerned that they or someone they know will be infected, which is a significant uptick from last week when 66% said the same.
But in a parallel to last week's results, partisanship continues to be a driving factor for both concerns over the coronavirus and attitudes towards the White House's response to the outbreak.
Among Democrats, 87% are concerned about getting coronavirus, including 37% who are very concerned. Republicans remain the least concerned among the ideological groups, with 66% saying they are concerned, including 23% who are very concerned. Only 12% of Democrats and 34% of Republicans are not concerned. Independents look more like Democrats when it comes to concern about coronavirus. Eighty-five percent of Independents are concerned and 15% are not concerned.
Beyond partisanship, unease among Americans is high across all age groups, not just those most vulnerable to the coronavirus.
Despite perceptions from viral videos showing young Americans dismissing concerns over the disease, 83% of 18-29 year olds said they are concerned about getting the illness, compared to 75% of 30-49 year olds, 79% of 50-64 year olds and 82% of people over 65 years old who said the same.
While the president is seeing stronger approval, attitudes towards his handling of the crisis also strongly break along partisan lines. Still, in a split from Democrats' overall attitudes , even from last week, 30% of Democrats approve, which is about double the number from last week’s poll, and 69% disapprove, down from 86%. Meanwhile, an overwhelming 92% of Republicans approve, up from 86% last week. Only 8% disapprove, compared to 11% in last week’s poll.
As fears over the spread of the virus quickly increase, more Americans are changing their behavior since a week ago.
While only 17% say they are now working from home due to the coronavirus, that is significantly higher than the 3% who said the same last week. Still 36% say they are working from their regular workspace, a number that stood at 55% just last week.
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"This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs‘ KnowledgePanel® March 18-19, 2020, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 512 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 5.0 points, including the design effect. See the poll’s topline results and details on the methodology here ."
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My life has not changed all that much as I never did mix socially all that much any way. I did have to call 911 though for a really bad bronchitis episode the other day and it was hard for me to breathe. I knew it was not CV because I had no flu symptoms. They gave me a nebulizer and I already had the medication for it. When the paramedics arrived only one of them entered. They told me that the ER's were like war zones right now and if I thought I could home treat that would be best. I used to be a nurse so I told them I could. The firemen that always accompany calls here were in haz mat gear. I did call my doctor and he prescribed medication to help. Between the nebullizer, steamer, and the medication I am almost back to normal.
I'm glad to hear you are ok. Everyone is obviously a little scared right now. My "kids" are working from home. They don't want me going out. They offer to do all of my errands, but I remind them that if I quarantine myself I can have just about everything delivered. As for the socializing, I think a little solitude is a welcome change. I'm reading an interesting book right now and I think I've caught up on all the TV Iv'e missed in the last few decades.
I want you and yours to stay safe. It does not matter if we agree or disagree on things. It is important that we look out for each other and help each other if we can.
Thank you Paula
I've been getting calls all week about setting people up to work from home. My gf started working from home this morning. My sister and her husband were fired on Wednesday as the company they worked for closed. We cancelled out trip to Phoenix planned for next weekend, but the flight info still says the flight will leave on time. According to the Delta website we'll get charged at least $200 for each ticket if we cancel and we can't call in prior to 72 hours to talk to a live person.
Isn't that something! And I hear Harvard University is not refunding one dime of tuition to those who essentially paid for room & board and all that goes with the full College experience and are now forced to take their courses online.
I've been hearing a lot of sad stories affecting younger people in school. Some students that were in student housing have no place to go and are essentially homeless now.
Colleges are in no way hurting. It's a national disgrace that they have this attitude.
Colleges certainly could have worked harder to help certain students that depended on housing and on-campus services. They pretty much just closed down and left people to figure it out on their own.
The closing down is egregious enough. Refunding tuition money was a must!
... after they finish swapping spit in Florida.
They have left kids that are on scholarships and working on campus to help pay their way on their own. Some of the kids have no way to get back home and are stranded.
This is a school with $38 billion in endowments.
$40.9 Billion at the end of 2019.
"Sec. DeVos has directed federal lenders to allow borrowers to suspend their student loans and loan payments without penalty for at least the next 60 days."
I also read this morning that Freddy Mac/Fannie May is offering mortgage deferments up to one year with proof that a person has been negatively affected by the CV. It expects the rest of the mortgage holders to follow suite.
I don't trust DeVos and further than I can throw her, so if she is lying about this, god help her.
No surprise there.
The only thing that has "Changed' in my life, is that work has gone up even more than it had since mid 2017.
I work with "Good" contractors, that actually find the work.
"Work SMART"...… Not "HARD" !
I went to the grocery store and the CVS a little while ago. I kept my gloves on the whole time and tried to stay 6 ft away from everyone. This is not possible in a crowded grocery store.
Few of the people I saw seemed to be trying to stay away from other people. Outside I even saw two guys getting in each others face arguing about something.
The arterial street was also fairly busy with cars , although probably down some from normal.
I'm going to try and stay in for a while, other than another trip to the grocery store in a couple weeks, and maybe a visit to see family.
The situation demands that there be "change" in people's everyday lives, but will enough realize that?
I'm here in Washington and although there are still idiots who don't think they need to do their share, we've been distancing for about a month in my part of the state, for the most part. Not getting in groups, staying home unless we need something, social distancing and staying away from people I know who are even more vulnerable to the virus. My son just said he is going to be getting hazard pay (he is in Seattle), and he has been advised not to visit us indefinitely. This is the new life. It is hard to imagine it ever being the same again, by the time we get through this chances are we will have lost more than one loved one or friends.
I think that things will get back to normal. Time heals ALL wounds, and as George Harrison said, all things must pass. I think the younger you are the sooner it will "pass". Older people are more reflective and have a certain horror for what could happen to our country.
And take a look at a local supermarket
That's sucks. My neighbors own a barbershop/hair salon that they opened up 9 months ago, they now have to close at the end of business on Saturday.
The salon I use they keep their doors locked and only let in people with confirmed appointments. When you get there they check your temperature with one of those forehead thermometers.
Now one confirmed case of CV19 in my county and more BS rumors of martial law. I also have had a higher than normal amount of spam calls on my phone this week. It's been quiet on my phone and at the office today all day so far.
So far there are 21 cases on the coast here with sadly one death.
Schools are supposed to stay closed until April 17th.
They are supposed to announce today they are going to set up a big testing site at the county fairgrounds.