Only 24% of Americans are “very” or “extremely” worried (dark green) about themselves or a family member infected with Covid, according to an AP-NORC study
The level of fear of Americans around Covid is reaching one of its lowest points since the beginning of last year, as the declining number of cases forces Americans to prepare for the pandemic.
According to a survey by the Associated Press Research Center (NORC) in February, only 24 percent of Americans are “very” or “extremely” worried about whether they or a family member will catch COVID-19.
This is a drop of one third of 36% of Americans who report serious fears in January, and the lowest figure since June 2021, when the number of cases decreased by months against the background of the successful introduction of the vaccine.
Just over one in three respondents, 34 percent, said they were “somewhat” worried about Covid.
The results come as Covid’s cases and hospitalizations drop sharply in the United States, and employees begin canceling orders for masks and vaccines in a bid to return to normal.
IN research was held Feb. 18-21 and included a sample of 1,289 adults in the United States from across the nation.
A February poll shows a 33% drop in Americans worried about the pandemic, and this is the fourth month in two years that less than 25% of Americans have shown a lot of concern about Covid
It has been held almost every month since Covid first entered American life in February 2020.
In just four months, less than 25 percent of Americans felt “very” or “extremely” worried about the pandemic.
One was February 2020, when Covid was still happening mostly abroad and had not yet affected Central America.
The next two were in April and June 2021 – may have been missed for the study – when the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine was gaining momentum and vaccine uptake was highest.
During this period, the number of cases and deaths reached low points and steadily decreased by months. It looked like the pandemic would end until the Delta option made its way to the state in late July.
Now fears are diminishing again, as Americans may once again feel that a “return to normal” may be around the corner.
The AP-NORC study also found that only 48 percent of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the spread of the virus in the country, down 65 percent during the peak of Delta’s jump in September.
Less than half of Americans consider the spread of infectious diseases a direct threat to the United States, which is far from the peak of 65% in September 2021.
The United States registered an average of 71,247 new cases each day, a 20% drop in the last week and a 90% drop from the mid-January peak of the Omicron variant of 800,000 cases per day.
Covid hospitalizations have dropped 44 percent in the past 14 days, with less than 50,000 Americans receiving treatment tests a day.
As of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is already looking at hospitalizations and hospital capacity as the most important figures in calculating Covid’s risk in the community.
The reduction in the number of Covid cases and hospitalizations, combined with the milder nature of the now dominant Omicron COVID-19, has high hopes that the virus will soon move from its pandemic phase to its endemic phase.
Despite the declining number of cases across the country, 50% of Americans still support orders for masks. Those who support the requirements for masks are likely to be Democrats or vaccinated
Almost every US state has revoked masks or made plans in recent weeks, and cities like New York are now following suit. Pictured: People in Times Square, New York, New York, wearing masks on January 25
Many local officials are also moving away from the pandemic. 49 out of 50 US states have either eased, abolished the mandates for masks, or have a date for that in the near future.
School masks are also beginning to be removed, with New York – a state with one of Covid’s toughest mandates in two years – even planning to have the face-off orders lifted on March 7.
Despite declining cases and the abolition of mask orders, Americans are divided over mandates.
The survey found that 50 percent of Americans “strongly” or “somewhat” support the requirement for Americans to wear masks in public.
Only 28% of respondents said they were either “somewhat” or “firmly” opposed to these mask orders.
Those who support mask orders are significantly more likely to be Democrats – 77 per cent of Democrats polled support masks – or vaccinated – 57 per cent.
This attitude may be due to the fact that Americans have been in this situation before.
In the spring of 2021, many also hoped that Covid would end, only that the nation would be overwhelmed by the Delta option.