Americans’ concerns over catching COVID are at their lowest since the summer of 2021, even as Forbes and other major news sources alert the public about subvariants that are resistant to treatment.
A Gallup poll conducted on October 11 found that only 28% of Americans are “very or somewhat worried” about catching COVID-19, the lowest that number has been since July 2021.
As Americans’ fears begin to wane, the number of those “very or somewhat worried” is still 11 points higher than fear levels in June of 2021 — six months after the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines.
By August 2021, however, Americans’ fears of contracting coronavirus had risen 22 points as “breakthrough cases” emerged among vaccinated Americans. Interestingly, 46% of vaccinated Americans worried about contracting coronavirus in August of 2021 — nearly double the percentage of those who were worried among unvaccinated Americans.
Even though fears of contracting COVID remain higher than their lowest point in 2021, the Gallup poll suggests that 59% of Americans reported making no attempt at isolating within the past 24 hours — a figure that has shown a mostly consistent rise throughout the two years of the pandemic.
However, the poll also reports that 16% of the U.S. population is still completely or mostly isolated. Although this is the lowest percentage to report self-isolating since April 2020, this figure has remained somewhat constant since July 2021.
Further polling shows that continued concern over COVID may break along political lines. For instance, 73% of Republicans polled and 48% of independents polled think the pandemic is over, while only 21% of Democrat respondents think so.
The poll also indicated that 78% of Americans agreed that people who do not have symptoms of coronavirus and are otherwise healthy should lead normal lives as much as possible and avoid interruptions to work and business.
Apart from polling data, there are some clear signs of Americans’ change in perception about the pandemic.
Record numbers of Americans traveled over Thanksgiving, 40,000 people gathered in downtown Dallas to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos (a figure consistent with 2019 turnout), and, as reported by The Dallas Express, remote work opportunities are starting to give way to traditional office life.
As the winter months commence, a time when many are susceptible to viral infection, it remains to be seen whether Americans’ relaxing perspective on COVID-19 will persist.
