Coronavirus ‘infodemic’ has one in three Americans feeling overwhelmed, poll finds

A newly released Gallup poll finds that keeping up with the latest coronavirus developments has some Americans feeling anxious.

The survey found that 36% of those polled report feeling overwhelmed by what the World Health Organization has dubbed a coronavirus “infodemic,” Gallup says.

Americans are evenly split on whether the daily deluge of information makes it easier or harder to keep up, the poll shows. And nearly 8 in 10 call misinformation a big problem when it comes to the pandemic.

The poll, conducted April 14-20 by the Gallup/Knight Foundation, surveyed 1,693 random adults from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It has a margin of error of 3%.

Gallup says 58% of Americans consider themselves well-informed on the coronavirus pandemic. People with a positive view of the news media are twice as likely to feel well-informed as those with a negative view, the poll found.

Of those who feel overwhelmed by the news, people ages 18 to 34 were more likely to feel that way compared to older adults, Gallup says.

People identified social media, the Trump Administration and major news outlets as top sources of misinformation on the pandemic, the poll found. About 45% blamed the mainstream media for misinformation, whereas 68% blamed social media and 54% blamed the Trump administration.

More than 4.1 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide with more than 284,000 deaths as of May 11, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 1.3 million confirmed cases with more than 79,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. In the United States, President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Coronavirus ‘infodemic’ has one in three Americans feeling overwhelmed, poll finds."