Here is a cross-section of some of the surveys about the COVID-19 pandemic over the last few weeks.
It can be difficult to compare studies and surveys for many reasons, including variations in the questions asked, how they’re asked, how people were selected for the surveys and the demographics of the participants. In terms of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, surveys of the public are also going to vary quite a bit based on what period they were conducted and what states, regions or cities they were conducted in or about.
Nonetheless, here is a cross-section of some of the surveys about the COVID-19 pandemic over the last few weeks.
Brookings Institute. The Washington, DC-based Brooking Institute presented three research reports on March 30 that were conducted by Economist/YouGov, the Pew Research Center and the Washington Post.
The Economist/YouGov survey found 81% of participants said the COVID-19 pandemic created a “national emergency,” with 66% saying it is a “major threat” to the health of the U.S. population. Only about a third of those questioned, three in 10, said the threat was exaggerated for political reasons.
The Washington Post poll found that 93% were maintaining distance, with 91% staying at home as much as possible, and 88% keeping away from restaurants and bars. In the Economist/YouGov survey, only 26% admitted they bought extra toilet paper.
The Pew Research Center has somewhat similar responses, though the questions were slightly different. In their survey, 95% found that restricting international travel was necessary, with 91% saying the same of cancelling major sports and entertainment events, and 85% approving of limiting restaurants to carry-out only.
In both the Economist/YouGov survey and the Pew survey, 25 to 30% said that we are overreacting to the pandemic, with a nearly 50/50 split on the effectiveness of the efforts—47% said it was going well and 46% said it was going poorly.
Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project with USA Today. Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape is one of the largest public opinion surveys, stating it has interviewed people in nearly every county, congressional district, and mid-sized US city ahead of the 2020 election. Which makes the results of their latest survey a bit distressing, which took a sample of 6,300 Americans between April 2 and April 8.
Their most recent survey found that almost a third of Americans believe a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 already exists but is being withheld from the public. Almost half think the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes disease was created in a laboratory. Or as USA Today notes, “It signals their mistrust in institutions as citizens are being asked to rely on government, health and other leaders amid the outbreak.”
A full 29% said it is either “probably or definitely true” that a vaccine exists and is being withheld, with 32% saying cures for the disease exist but is being withheld. Around 70% say those statements are untrue.
“To see about a third of people give that some level of, ‘Yeah, that might be true,’ that was pretty shocking to me,” said Robert Griffin, research director for the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group. “That’s a pretty dark type of thought to be floating around the public. There’s an undercurrent of a lack of trust in society, a lack of trust in elites.”
There was also a political divide, not surprisingly. In the survey, 50% of Republicans said they believe the coronavirus was created in a lab compared to 37% of Democrats.
The World Health Organization reported this week no evidence to support the idea it was created in a lab. An international group of researchers published an article in March analyzing the genome of the virus and found it originated through natural processes. And, if you are a conspiracy theorist, this would not be surprising, but the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. intelligence agencies have also said there is no evidence the virus was constructed in a laboratory.
Pain News Network. The Pain News Network, the International Pain Foundation and the Chronic Pain Association of Canada conducted an online survey from April 6 through 20, with over 2,200 people responding worldwide. All of the respondents indicated they have chronic pain or chronic illness.
To the question, “How would you rate the federal government’s response to coronavirus?”, about a third said “very poor,” with about another 23% saying “poor,” and about 15% each saying “adequate,” “good” or “very good.” That was apparently the U.S. response, with Canadian’s having about 56% saying “good” or “very good.”
In the U.S., about 48% rated their state and local government’s response “good” or “very good” compared to 27% who rated it “poor” or “very poor.” In general, they seemed to feel state and local government response was better than the federal government’s response.
FiveThirtyEight. FiveThirtyEight (538) is a polling firm focused on politics, economics and sports blogging. It was acquired by ESPN in July 2013, then transferred in 2018 to ABC News. FiveThirtyEight runs polls every week and also provides a roundup of other polls in their weekly Pollapalooza.
On April 24, 538 found that 50.4% of participants disapproved of President Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis, with 45.9% approving. In a Yahoo News/YouGov survey, 49% disapproved of his response, with 45% approving, but 65% thought the president could have decreased the virus’s impact “a lot” or “somewhat” if he had acted sooner. President Trump received similar reviews from Morning Consult’s latest survey, with 48% approving and 46% disapproving his handling of the pandemic. Only 7% said the federal government was doing “too much” while 45% said it wasn’t doing enough, and 40% claiming it was doing “the right amount.”
A CBS News poll indicated 52% said President Trump was doing a bad job handling the pandemic compared to 48% saying he was doing a good job. However, 57% said the country’s handling of the pandemic was “going badly.”
In terms of concerns over resurgence of the virus if restrictions are lifted too quickly, the Yahoo News/YouGov survey indicated 71% of Americans were more concerned about lifting restrictions too quickly than too slowly. The same amount indicated they wanted public officials to be able to run mass testing before lifting restrictions on normal activities. The CBS News poll had a similar response, with 63% expressing worries about reopening too quickly and making the pandemic worse.
Pharma Industry Public Opinion
In September 2019, the pharmaceutical industry was ranked last in Gallup’s list of 25 industries, according to an annual poll. It was even lower than that of the federal government.
But what about now, in light of a global pandemic where the public eagerly reads news of every vaccine developed and every clinical trial of new and already approved drugs to treat the disease?
An APCO Worldwide survey found that about half, 48% of Americans, had not changed their image of the industry as the result of the pandemic, but about half did. And in the half that did, people were twice as likely to feel positive about the industry.
About 58% of respondents to the survey said U.S. companies are more likely to develop breakthrough therapies, with 68% optimistic a treatment would be developed for COVID-19.
“That shows me this hopeful attitude, and almost enthusiasm, about basically beating up on pharmaceutical companies,” said Jack Kalavritinos, senior director at APCO.
This is something the industry is thinking about as well. Dave Ricks, chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Co., noted at the company’s first-quarter conference call that the COVID-19 pandemic is a “once in a generation opportunity to reset” its reputation. “It’s really about solving the problem.”
