Is COVID Still a Crisis? An Axios-Ipsos Poll Says Yes — and No

We are so over COVID. Yes, cases are on the rise but a poll by Axios-Ipsos says we don’t care, and many don’t think COVID is still a crisis.

Outside of a visit to a medical facility, few of us are wearing masks anyway and anywhere. That includes on mass transportation and on airplanes, and at restaurants and retail businesses.

In addition to conservative locations where people generally rebelled against wearing them, the non-mask wearers have become prevalent in cities considered liberal.

This is going to make a push by national and local leaders to reimpose the COVID restrictions that have now — basically — gone away. On one hand, that could lead to another kind of crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says 18% of the U.S. population lives in areas considered high risk.

Another 27% of people live in medium risk areas where the CDC says higher-risk people should be wearing masks. These are two areas where people are “encouraged” to wear masks. As we know, most are not.

That’s especially true when you consider 36% of those polled say there is no significant risk of returning to the non-coronavirus life we used to enjoy.

Ipsos senior VP, Chris Jackson says that means most people are just not going back to mask wearing or social distancing. Few people in any area — high risk, medium risk, low risk or no risk — are checking risk levels where they live on a regular basis.

“People have checked out a little bit,” Jackson said. “People aren’t as tuned in.” 

Andy Slavitt is a former senior advisor on COVID-19 for the Biden administration. He said there will be tremendous difficulties getting people to respond again. “You have to understand that at this point in time that you can’t make people necessarily care more than they do,” he said.

Translation, Slavitt doesn’t think government has much leverage these days when it comes to COVID restrictions. Jackson agrees — and doesn’t agree since the Ipsos poll found that only a third of us — 33% — think the pandemic is over. There is a “however” attached to Jackson’s third and it involves the other two-thirds.

“It’s not necessarily something they’re going to shut their lives down about, but when we ask point blank, ‘Is the pandemic over?’ two thirds say, ‘no,’ ” he pointed out.  

In Slavitt’s mind, the Biden administration needs bag the idea of returning to social distancing and masks and focus on getting more COVID funding from Congress and it needs to be working on updated vaccines.

“My own view is a little bit soured that human nature is such that, you know, whatever science makes easy, people might do,” he said. “But whatever requires even the slightest bit of sacrifice, or compromise for the sake of some other unknown person getting infected, is a much harder stretch and a much harder messaging.”

Source link: The Hill — https://bit.ly/3wEW90w