Pessimism about the coronavirus pandemic is starting to subside as parts of the country begin to see the number of new cases of COVID-19 level off.
A poll from Gallup found the number of respondents who felt the pandemic was getting worse dropped 14 percentage points from 62% when the question was asked between April 6 and April 9 to 48% when the question was asked between April 10 and April 12.
The portion of respondents who felt the coronavirus situation in the United States was getting better also jumped from 25% to 34% in the same period of time. The improving outlook was reflected across ideological and regional groups.
There are several factors that could have contributed to this change in hopefulness. The projected death toll in the U.S. dropped from 100,000 to 60,000, and the hardest-hit state, New York, has started to plateau in its number of hospitalizations. Several governors have also reported that they have enough ventilators to manage the surge in cases.
Fewer respondents reported they believe coronavirus-related shutdowns will continue for months. When the question was asked from March 30 to April 1, 59% of respondents said they believe they would have to deal with disruptions for “a few more months.” When the question was asked from April 10 to April 12, 48% of respondents said they believed they had months of disruptions ahead. Still, 27% of respondents believe that the virus will disrupt their lives for “longer” than the next few months.
The poll included responses from 3,365 adults living in the U.S. The margin of error was 3 percentage points.
