Even as health officials warn of a coming winter spike in COVID cases and the federal government urges millions of Americans to get a third booster, worry over the virus has dropped to just 28%, according to a new poll.
“Twenty-eight percent of Americans say they are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat worried’ they will get COVID — the lowest percentage Gallup has recorded since the summer of 2021,” Gallup reports.
The latest findings also show a new high of Americans say they believe the pandemic is “over.” And the survey found 78% of Americans, the highest to date, think it’s best for Americans showing no symptoms to “lead their normal lives as much as possible and avoid interruptions to work and business.”
“The same poll finds the smallest percentages of Americans yet reporting they are steering clear of specific situations because of the coronavirus, including avoiding large crowds (24%), avoiding travel by plane or public transportation (19%), avoiding going to public places (16%) and avoiding small gatherings (13%),” Gallup reported. “Use of face masks remains fairly common, but the 40% saying they have worn one in the past week when outside their home is also a new low during the pandemic.”
In addition, Americans are no longer stringent about social distancing.
“About six in 10 Americans (59%) say they have made no attempt to isolate themselves from people outside their household in the past 24 hours — the most eschewing social distancing since the beginning of the pandemic,” the poll found. “Sixteen percent, similar to the level in April, now say they have completely or mostly isolated themselves from people outside their household, while 25% — the lowest reading since April 2020 — say they have isolated themselves partially or a little.”
The latest Gallup poll follows another one from last month that found more Democrats than Republicans think there is still a pandemic.
“Americans in all party groups have become more likely to say the pandemic is over since July, including increases of 12 points among Republicans, 14 points among Democrats and 10 points among independents,” Gallup found. “Independents also broadly agree that the situation is improving (62%). All three groups have roughly returned to the levels last seen in February and April after cases were down from the January surge in infections.”
“However, Republicans are the only party with a majority saying the pandemic is over. Republicans are more than three times as likely as Democrats to say this, at 73% vs. 21%, while 48% of independents agree. Despite the fact that Biden has said he believes the pandemic is over, a majority of his party’s faithful, 79%, do not concur.”
That’s right — in July, just 7% of Democrats thought the pandemic was “over.” And that number is still just 21% in November, even though President Joe Biden made a major declaration a couple of months ago.
“The pandemic is over,” Biden said in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired September 18. “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over.”
That confident assertion didn’t last long. The scaremongers in the White House, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the resident Debbie Downer, immediately walked back the statement.
“We are not where we need to be if we are going to quote, ‘live with the virus,’” Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the following day. “We still must be aware of how unusual this virus is and continues to be in its ability to evolve into new variants which defy the standard public health mechanisms of addressing an outbreak.”
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.
