Americans grow more optimistic about pandemic as COVID cases fall, poll finds
American optimism about the COVID-19 pandemic has rebounded in the United States as new cases continue to drop, a poll found.
The Gallup poll released Nov. 3 found a majority of Americans view the “coronavirus situation” as improving for the first time since June — and that fewer Americans are concerned about contracting the virus. But the vast majority of respondents said they believe pandemic-related disruptions will last through 2022 or longer.
The Oct. 18-24 poll included 4,007 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. It comes as newly reported coronavirus cases have fallen following a surge driven by the highly contagious delta variant. Gallup reported that data shows “views of the pandemic are directly related to infection rates.”
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Oct. 29 that the seven-day moving average of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths were all down compared to the previous week. Additionally, 58.1% of all people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Nov. 2, according to the CDC, and 66.9% have received at least one dose.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said last month on CNN’s “State of the Union” that it’s too soon to “declare victory” as numbers could “bounce back.” He implored people to continue getting vaccinated.
Optimism on the pandemic
The poll found 51% of respondents think the coronavirus pandemic is getting better — including 12% who say it’s getting “a lot” better and 39% who say it’s getting “a little” better.
That’s up 31 points from the 20% who said it was getting better in a September survey, according to Gallup.
“The latest reading marks the first time since June that a majority of U.S. adults think the pandemic is improving; however, it is well below the 60% to 89% range of February through June, before the highly contagious delta variant caused a rise in U.S. COVID-19 cases,” Gallup said.
An additional 18% of respondents said they think the coronavirus situation is getting worse, which is a 36-point drop compared to September, when 54% said the same. Meanwhile, 31% said they think the situation is staying the same.
The percentage of Americans concerned about contracting COVID-19 also fell. Gallup found 36% of respondents said they are very or somewhat concerned, which is down slightly from 40% in September.
“While Americans’ worry about contracting COVID-19 has consistently been below 50% since February, it rose 12 points between June and July and another 10 points by August,” Gallup said.
Respondents concerned about hospital capacity dropped to 33% from 43% in September. Gallup noted that “worry about hospital capacity has followed the same general pattern as overall concern about getting COVID-19.”
“That is, when hospitals have been overwhelmed, worry about the availability of hospital supplies, services and treatment has risen,” Gallup said.
Pandemic disruptions
While most Americans are generally optimistic about the coronavirus situation, a vast majority don’t see pandemic-related disruptions ending any time soon, the poll found.
Fifty-one percent of respondents said they expect disruptions to “travel, school, work and public events” to last through the end of 2022 while 28% said they expect them to last at least somewhat into 2023.
An additional 20% said they expect disruptions to last a few more months, and 1% said a few more weeks.
While the country hasn’t seen widespread coronavirus-related restrictions like those in 2020, face mask mandates and other restrictions have been reinstated in some areas.
The CDC says fully vaccinated people can return to many of their pre-pandemic activities, but recommends that they wear a mask in public, indoor settings in areas with high or substantial COVID-19 transmission.
People should “keep taking all precautions” until they are fully vaccinated, the CDC said.
Data has shown the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and highly effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalizations and death.
Gallup said that when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the public “largely expected it would be gone in a matter of a few weeks or months.”
“Over time, although they have experienced periods of hope, such as when the vaccine was first approved and just before the delta variant tore through the U.S., they have largely believed COVID-19 would upend their lives for a significant period of time,” Gallup said.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 10:16 AM with the headline "Americans grow more optimistic about pandemic as COVID cases fall, poll finds."
