An overwhelming majority of Americans now believe that the coronavirus crisis has all but passed and is now a much more manageable issue, according to a new poll.
Axios reports that in its latest poll, conducted with Ipsos, only 9 percent of Americans call the coronavirus pandemic “a serious crisis.” Conversely, 73 percent described it as “a problem, but manageable.” Another 17 percent say it is “not a problem at all.” Along party lines, only 3 percent of Republicans called it a “crisis,” in comparison to 16 percent of Democrats; 66 percent of Republicans called it “manageable,” while 81 percent of Democrats said the same. Just 3 percent of Democrats think it is no longer an issue, with 31 percent of Republicans giving the same answer.
Additionally, the poll reflected Americans’ attitudes largely shifting away from a lockdown mentality and returning to normal. The number of respondents who said that they are being required to wear masks by their employers has dropped by 17 points, from 39 percent last month to just 22 percent now. At the same time, 37 percent said that they have already returned to living their lives as they did prior to the pandemic.
When asked about how they have either handled or avoided the virus altogether, about two-thirds of respondents said that they had taken extra precautions to keep healthy, while a quarter of respondents attributed their health to luck. Democrats were more likely to cite extra precautions, at 85 percent, while Republicans were more likely to credit it to luck, at 25 percent.
These numbers reflect an ongoing trend away from unspoken or indirect support for lockdown measures by a sizable portion of the population, in favor of lifting restrictions so that life can return to normalcy. The political ramifications of ongoing lockdown efforts in areas primarily run by Democrats have already been seen in recent elections, including, most prominently, the Virginia gubernatorial election last November. Polling suggests that if the Democratic Party is defeated in a landslide in this year’s midterms, which seems likely, the ongoing support by the party for continued restrictions will play a key role.