This week, the Biden administration announced that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and will re-launch a website for Americans to order up to four free tests for their household. This comes as a poll released this week claims that more Americans are becoming concerned about the virus.
A Gallup poll released Thursday found that Americans have grown “a bit more concerned” about the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty percent of Americans surveyed said that they believe the pandemic is “getting worse,” up from 5 percent since late May/early June.
Broken down by political party, 44 percent of Democratic respondents believe the pandemic is getting worse. Twenty-two percent of independents and 16 percent of Republicans agreed (via Gallup):
All party groups are more likely now than in May/June to say the coronavirus situation is getting worse, but Democrats have grown particularly negative about the trajectory. The percentage of Democrats who believe the situation is worsening has jumped 38 percentage points this quarter, from 6% in May/June to 44% in September. This contrasts with a 17-point increase among independents, to 22%, and a 13-point increase among Republicans, to 16%.
Forty-one percent of respondents said they believe the “coronavirus situation” is improving. Thirty percent said they believe it’s staying the same. The poll was conducted from Aug. 29 to Sept. 5 with 5,287 respondents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
When it comes to masking, 55 percent of respondents report they never wear a mask outside the home, while 45 percent do so to some extent. Of the 45 percent who sometimes wear a mask, 6 percent said they always or very often wear one, 11 percent said they sometimes do, and 28 percent said it’s a rare occurrence.
Gallup concluded that while some Americans, particularly Democrats, are growing concerned over COVID-19, “Americans don’t seem discouraged that any progress they’ve made in returning to pre-pandemic life as “normal” has been lost.”
After an extended period of strong optimism this year about the direction of the coronavirus, Americans, and particularly Democrats, are a bit more wary of COVID-19 following a month when the virus has afflicted an increasing number of Americans, first lady Jill Biden included.
