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It’s not over ’til it’s over

A New Washington Post-ABC News poll:

Most Americans say some restrictions on normal activities should remain in place to try to control the coronavirus, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, which finds that public wariness of the pandemic lingers even as federal health officials and a growing roster of governors have softened mask advice.

The nationwide survey also shows that, two years into a health crisis that has claimed nearly 950,000 lives in the United States, bipartisan majorities think the virus is only “somewhat under control” or “not at all” controlled. Even so, most say they have fully or mostly returned to their normal, pre-coronavirus activities.

Perceptions of the dangers posed by the coronavirus and attitudes toward restrictions reveal substantial partisan differences, according to the poll. Taken together, just over a third ofU.S. adults say the coronavirus pandemic is “mostly” or “completely” under control; but 29 percent of Democrats say they hold that view, compared with 41 percent of Republicans.

The 34 percent overall who say they regard the pandemic as largely controlled is among the highest proportion since surveys began tracking such attitudes early in the pandemic. Yet nearly 6 in 10 U.S. adults think it is more important to control the virus, with some restrictions in daily life, while 4 in 10 prefer no restrictions.

What about the new CDC mask guidance and the Governor’s lifting the mask mandates?

Those government actions may not line up with public attitudes, even though politicians have felt pressure from constituents weary of the pandemic and business owners eager to restore their pre-pandemic levels of commerce. The poll does not explicitly ask about masks as a way to curb the virus’s spread or any other specific public health strategy.

However, other recent surveys have found that more Americans still favor rather than oppose mask requirements, although support for the idea has dipped in the past year. An Economist-YouGov poll released last week found that 52 percent of Americans supported a mask mandate for indoor spaces, while 38 percent opposed the idea. An Associated Press-NORC poll released Monday found that half of Americans support mandates to wear masks when people are around others outside their homes, while fewer than 3 in 10 opposed such requirements.

The Post-ABC News poll finds that most Americans have strong opinions about the wisdom of pandemic-fighting measures in general. Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults say they feel strongly that it is important to maintain some restrictions, while another 30 percent say they strongly believe such restrictions should be removed.

If there has ever been a case of twitter not reflecting the world, this is it. Other than epidemiologists and virologists, the consensus on that platform is that the vase majority in the country is demanding the end of all COVID mitigation strategies, especially mask and vaccine mandates. It isn’t true.

Speaking only for myself and my personal circle, most are still wearing masks indoors in public spaces like grocery stores or malls. And everyone is triple vaxxed. But we’ve been having small gatherings, dinner parties, going out to restaurants, outdoors if at all possible, travelling. In other words, we’ve all just been living our lives, but being careful about it and assessing risks to the best of our ability. That’s just the world for the moment and it doesn’t seem particularly onerous to me. I realize your mileage may vary. But the idea that the whole country is up in arms over this isn’t the case. There is a vocal minority of people who are beside themselves over it but most seem to be taking it in stride.

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