NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nearly one in four adults in the United States said they were released or given leave during the coronavirus outbreak. However, a non-partisan majority of Americans want companies to remain closed to slow the spread of the deadly virus despite its economic impact, according to a Reuters / Ipsos survey.
Crowds can be seen at the entrance to Prospect Park in front of the Grand Army Plaza during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brooklyn, New York City, USA, 27 March 2020. REUTERS / Andrew Kelly
The March 26-27 public opinion poll released on Friday also showed that the public is much more likely to follow the advice of doctors and local government officials than President Donald Trump.
Trump, who predicted in February that the virus would “miraculously” go away, has reported uneven levels of concern about the disease, which infected over 85,000 people in the US and killed more than 1,200 people.
The president took a tough approach earlier this month when he asked people to only gather in small groups. Later, he seemed to change course and told reporters that he wanted stores to reopen by Easter on April 12th.
The survey found that most Americans don’t want that.
Eighty-one percent said the country should continue social distancing initiatives, including “protection at home” orders, “despite the economic impact.” This includes 89% of the Democrats and 70% of the Republicans.
Only 19% said they wanted to end social distancing as soon as possible “to get the economy going”, including 11% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans.
Commitment to social distancing comes at a time when many Americans feel a great deal of concern about the economy. Only 30% of Americans said they believed the US economy was going in the “right direction,” the lowest level of confidence in surveys that dates back to February 2018.
23 percent said they had already lost their jobs due to the corona virus or that their employer was forced to close and “I’m no longer going to work, but I’m still employed by them.”
Many economists expect the US unemployment rate to exceed the 10% level that the country experienced more than a decade ago during the Great Recession. James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, said it could rise up to 30%.
The survey also found that 31% of Americans are “very likely” to follow Trump’s recommendations and guidelines regarding the corona virus.
In comparison, 66% said they would follow the directions of doctors and 64% said they would follow the advice of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fifty-one percent said they would follow the advice of the governor of their state, and 46 percent would follow the instructions given by the local police about health care.
The Reuters / Ipsos survey was conducted online in English in the United States. It collected responses from 1,112 adults and has a 3% confidence interval, a measure of accuracy.