Most Republicans don't view coronavirus as a serious health threat - poll

A survey published on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center found that Democratic and Democratic-leaning Americans were almost twice as likely (82%) to view the coronavirus as a major threat to public health than their Republican counterparts (43%).

Since late March, the share of Republicans who view the outbreak as a major threat to the nation’s health has declined 9 points, from 52% to 43%, while increasing slightly among Democrats, from 78% to 82%.

However, the survey also found that while they disagree on the risks the disease poses to public health, both Democrats (89%, up 4 points since late March) and Republicans (88%, down 3% since late March) see the outbreak as a major threat to the US economy.

 

 

Partisanship has also been affecting who Americans see as responsible for supplying tests for COVID-19. While a large majority of Democrats (78%) feel that coronavirus  testing is the responsibility of the federal government, a smaller majority of Republicans (57%) said they view it as the responsibility of state and local governments.

This rift can also be seen through the large drop in Republicans' ratings of how well state and local officials and public health officials, such as those at the CDC, are handling the outbreak, which has declined since March. 

The percentage of Republicans who say public health officials are doing an excellent or good job has fallen from 84% to 68%, while the share of Democrats and Democratic leaners who say the same remains virtually unchanged (75% currently). 

Similarly, Republicans’ evaluations of their local elected officials (currently 61% give positive ratings, down from 73% in March) and their state elected officials (from 72% then to 60% today) have become less positive.

 

The largest difference in opinion between partisans still comes, unsurprisingly, from views on how President Donald Trump has responded to the outbreak. 

While only 11% of Democrats or Democratic leaning Americans think that Trump has done a good/excellent job responding to the virus, 77% of Republicans or Republican leaning Americans think he has done a good/excellent job. 

Since late March, public views of Trump's response to the pandemic has been declining steadily across the board, with a 7% drop among Democrats and a 6% drop among Republicans, leading to an overall 7% drop in approval among Americans, currently at 41%.

The partisan differences are more modest in views of the personal impact of the coronavirus. Still, Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to say it is a major threat to their personal finances (44% vs. 36%) and much more likely to regard it as a major threat to their health (47% vs. 27%).

There are also geographic differences in views of the personal threat posed by COVID-19, with those who live in counties most heavily impacted by the virus more likely to see the outbreak as a threat to their personal finances and personal health.

Americans living in counties with 100 or more reported coronavirus deaths as of May 1 were 11% more likely to say the outbreak is a major threat to their personal financial situation (48% to 37%), and 8% more likely to say it is a major threat to their personal health (43% to 35%).

Among Republicans in the most impacted counties, 34% see the coronavirus as a major threat to their health; that is much lower than the share of Democrats in the least affected counties who say this (48%).

People living with a lower household income are significantly more likely to view the outbreak as a major threat to both their finances and their health than individuals in higher-income households. 

Among those in lower-income households, a slight majority of 54% say the virus is a major threat to their finances, compared with 31% of those in upper-income households. And nearly half (47%) in lower-income households say it is a major threat to their health, compared with three-in-ten in upper-income households.

Despite differing views on government response, partisans seem to agree that local hospitals and medical centers in their area are doing well in their response to the outbreak. 

Nearly nine-in-ten (88%) say hospitals and medical centers in their area are doing an excellent or good job in responding to the outbreak, including 47% who say they are doing an excellent job.

The United States has seen far more confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths than any other country in the world, with over 88 thousand deaths and approximately 1.47 million cases of the virus, almost a third of all cases confirmed worldwide.