Most Americans Wouldn't Immediately Return to Normal Activities After Social Distancing Measures Are Lifted, New Poll Shows
Majority of Americans would not immediately return to their normal lives and activities once social distancing measures are lifted, according to a new poll.
The poll, which was published by Gallup, surveyed 3,881 U.S. adults from April 3 to April 5. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
According to the poll, 71 percent of U.S. adults said that they want to "wait and see what happens the coronavirus before resuming," their daily activities. In comparison, 20 percent said that want to return "immediately," while 10 percent said that they will continue to limit their contact with other people after social distancing measures are lifted.
The poll comes at a time where the new coronavirus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19, has sparked a majority of states to implement some type of social distancing measures. These include closing nonessential businesses, placing a ban on social gatherings, permitting restaurants to only offer take-out options and urging people to stay at least six feet away from each other when in public.
These social distancing measures were put into place in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected over 598,000 people across the U.S., according to a tracker provided by Johns Hopkins University.
While the poll found that a majority of Americans want to wait until returning to their normal activities, these percentages changed when looking at specific groups of people.
U.S. adults between the ages of 18 to 29 portrayed the highest percentage of people, 25 percent, who want to "immediately," return after social distancing measures are lifted. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Americans in this age bracket have shown to be less vulnerable to the virus.
On the other hand, U.S. adults between the ages of 50 to 64 portrayed the highest percentage of those who will continue to limit their interaction after social distancing measures are lifted, with 14 percent.
Those between the ages of 30 to 49 represented the highest percentage of those wanting to wait to see what happens with the virus before returning to their normal activities, with 76 percent.
In addition, the poll also shows the percentages of U.S. adults based on their political party affiliation, with stark differences between the views of Republicans and Democrats.
According to the poll, 31 percent of Republicans said that they want to immediately return to their normal activities, while 61 percent said that they want to wait to see what happens with the coronavirus before resuming. Only 11 percent of Democrats, on the other hand, want to return to normal activities immediately while 79 percent have a wait-a-see attitude about the situation.
In addition to the virus infecting over 598,000 people in the U.S. it has also caused at least 25,239 deaths, according to the tracker.
