A pair of recent polls have found that Americans generally approve of the way the federal government and President Donald Trump have handled the response to the coronavirus crisis, but that a third of Americans fear they will die from contracting the virus.
The poll everyone is talking about Friday morning is one from ABC News/Ipsos, which found that 55% of respondents approve of Trump’s response to the coronavirus, while 43% disapprove. As Politico reported, the number of Americans who now approve of Trump’s handling of the crisis has increased over the past week, when just 43% approved of the president’s management and 54% disapproved.
“Trump has declared a national emergency, expanded the European travel ban, urged people to avoid group gatherings of more than 10 people, signaled his support for dispensing checks to affected Americans, and invoked the Defense Production Act — although he has stopped short of actually triggering the statute,” the outlet reported. “The president has also often led the daily press briefings of the White House coronavirus task force, announcing new federal actions, taking questions from reporters and generally appearing more solemn regarding the nature of the threat facing the country.”
The ABC News/Ipsos poll also found that 72% of Americans have cancelled or postponed major social events – three times as many who said the same last week.
“The most dramatic changes are in not going out to dinner (now 57% from 9%), not attending religious services (now 33% from 3%), and not attending sporting events or concerts (now 32% from 9%),” the poll found.
In addition, the number of Americans who said they are now working from home has increased dramatically, from 3% last week to 17% this week. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who are still able to continue working at their usual workplace has decreased from 55% last week to 36% this week.
Another poll, from Axios/Harris, also found a majority of Americans approve of the way Trump has managed the crisis, with 56% approving and 44% disapproving. His approval on the matter improved five points in this particular poll since mid-March.
The Axios/Harris poll also found that 60% of respondents said they were satisfied with the way the federal government as a whole responded to the coronavirus. Just 42% think the federal government has provided sufficient economic relief for the coronavirus, down from 47% last week.
As for what people think about the crisis itself, the poll found that 84% are concerned about the impact the coronavirus will have on the economy, and 81% think the coronavirus will cause a global recession.
The poll also asked how concerned respondents were about various shortages of medical supplies. About 71% said they were somewhat or very concerned about surgical masks and gloves, 73% said the same of coronavirus testing kids, 77% said the same of hospital beds and ventilators. Eighty percent said they were somewhat or very concerned about there not being enough healthcare workers, such as doctors, nurses, or support staff to treat patients.
Finally, the poll found that a large majority of Americans do not fear that they will die from contracting the coronavirus. Seventy-two percent said they did not fear they would die, while 28% said they were afraid.