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In the poll, only 9% of respondents said they were “not concerned at all” about a local outbreak in their area with the other 91% concerned to some greater or lesser degree (39% extremely, 33% moderately, and 19% a little concerned). 0% were unsure, which is also notable; in other words, every single respondent had considered whether they were concerned about the issue or not and could therefore answer the question.
In fact, if you look at the survey questions that generally fall into a “basic awareness” category (versus political opinion, for instance), those extremely high incidence levels repeat themselves.
Asked whether they thought a coronavirus outbreak in their local area might occur, 57% of respondents said coronavirus had already been reported in their locale, another 23% thought it either very or moderately likely, with 12% saying it was at least “a little likely.” A wee sliver of just 7% of respondents considered it “not likely at all” and 1% were unsure.
Same thing with the number of people who have been personally affected by coronavirus—just 8% said it hadn’t affected them in any way while 91% said it had.
- I/Someone I know has coronavirus: 23%
- Forced me to change plans: 45%
- Taking precautions/Changed habits: 23%
- Hasn’t affected me in any way: 8%
- Unsure: 1%
It’s actually a staggering rate of prevalence for a single event, even one that is playing out over the course of months that could eventually bleed into years. Once more, this experience isn’t unique to the United States and either has been, or will be, as prevalently felt by other populations as by Americans.
Certainly, the coronavirus’s impact on people across this country will be felt in extremely different ways, and yet almost everyone has been impacted by it. That alone is extraordinary, even if it’s nearly impossible to know how it will change our lives and the world we live in going forward.
