As the novel coronavirus continues to hit the United States hard and our leadership continues to fumble any form of a consistent response, public opinion data is revealing some difficult but important realities. For example, according to the May 2020 Civiqs/Daily Kos report, one out of 10 American adults knew someone who died from the coronavirus. That number in itself is tragic. What’s even more tragic—and consistent with reports on the subject from other sources—is the racial breakdown of communities being affected. From the same polling data, Black and Latino Americans are twice as likely as white Americans to have known someone who died from COVID-19. Another way of looking at it is that close to one in five Black and Latino Americans knew someone who died from the virus.
As a quick review, this data comes from online polling of 1,546 adults in the United States from May 2 to May 5, 2020. You can check out the full survey results here, as well as the cross tabs here.
Compared to earlier reports, some numbers about how often people are leaving home amid the virus are worrisome. For example, in March and April, nearly 70% of people reported they only left their house for essential activities, like buying groceries and seeking medical attention. In the latest report, just 57% of people report that being the case; that’s still the majority, which is good, but as we see reports of people flocking to beaches and sunbathing in parks, it’s also unsettling. Similarly, 37% of respondents say they wear a mask only occasionally, while 44% say they wear a mask every time they leave home. Less than 20% say they do not wear a mask.
Does this shift possibly connect to some states, like Georgia, reopening nonessential businesses like gyms and tattoo parlors? Or the instances of restaurants opening in spite of orders? Maybe. A false sense of security might nudge people to take more risks than they had been taking before. As the weather finally turns warm in much of the country that’s another factor, as is time; it’s tough to say how long simply feels too long for people, especially those who might feel exacerbated mental health or addiction stressors with so much isolation.
Relatedly, it’s possible that knowing someone who has gotten ill, or died, due to complications of the virus may also be a factor. For example, we know the outbreak has (so far) been notably intense in the northeastern U.S., particularly New York and New Jersey. In the Northeast, 16% of respondents report knowing someone who has died already.
Of course, there is a significant partisan discrepancy when it comes to believing reported death tolls to begin with. For example, about three-quarters of polled Democrats believe the death toll is actually higher than what’s being reported. A majority of Republican respondents—coming in at about 60%—believe the number is less than what’s being reported. Either way, less than 10% of respondents believe the official numbers are accurate.
One positive is that most people do support stay-at-home orders, coming in at 65% of those polled. 53% still support a national quarantine (this is unlikely to happen), which is a drop in the percentage from recent months; in March, for example, that number was 69%. Either way, a positive takeaway here is that in spite of small anti-lockdown protests (which White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx recently called “devastatingly worrisome”) cropping up around the country, most people do in fact support state measures to curb the spread.
Of course, being in the U.S. means that it’s impossible to talk about a public health crisis without also talking about unemployment rates. In total, one out of four households has been affected by the virus in some way, including furloughs, layoffs, or losing hours. In April’s polling, 8% of respondents reported filing for unemployment in the last month. In May, that number increased to 12%. Added to that 12%, 4% say they have tried to file and haven’t been able to complete the process. All of this stress, of course, only builds when we remember that food banks are overwhelmed, farmers are frustrated that their food is going to waste, meatpacking workers are terrified about labor conditions, and people are still going hungry.