Coronavirus National Polling (March 26th)

Given the nearly singular focus of the country on the Coronavirus, we are closely tracking issues surrounding the outbreak, from personal health concerns, to behavioral changes, to the approval of elected officials in handling the crisis.

We are tracking opinions/concerns about the spread of Coronavirus in much of our survey work, but because we cannot share proprietary data, we have begun tracking public polling on Coronavirus to share more broadly.

The first iteration can be found

Our first iteration was released March 9 and can be found here. The second iteration can be found here. Among the key findings:

  • Coronavirus has had a historic impact on Americans. Consider:
    • The spread of Coronavirus was already the most tracked story of the last decade by March 13, when there were fewer than 2,000 cases in the U.S. (there are now over 75,000 confirmed cases in the country, a number that will continue to grow).
    • Coronavirus is the top issue in the country by an overwhelming margin. 57% of Americans say Coronavirus is the biggest concern for their family, followed by job security/unemployment at 7% (although that number will likely rise in the wake of the spread as we begin to feel the economic effects).
    • In just one week, the number Americans who have cancelled/postponed an event (e.g., going out to dinner, taking a vacation, attending a religious service) has nearly tripled, going from 26% to 72% in 7 days.
  • President Trump’s approval on how he is handling the Coronavirus outbreak is higher than his overall job approval rating.
  • Personal concern over Coronavirus has appeared to level off for now (at roughly 70% of Americans who are concerned), although we expect that number could rise as the case count rises and more Governors continue to shutter their states.
  • Governors are receiving a lot of credit for the way in which they are handling the Coronavirus outbreak. More than 7-in-10 Americans say their Governor is doing a good job, a higher number than health agencies in the federal government (65%), President Trump (50%), media (45%) and Congress (42%).

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Public Opinion Strategies