Polls: More Americans Worried About Economy Than Coronavirus

By  James Barrett

Over the course of three weeks after much of the nation was shutdown as a result of state-imposed social distancing measures, nearly 17 million Americans filed jobless claims — 3.3 million in the first week, 6.8 million in the second, and 6.6 million in the third. The previous high for unemployment claims in a single week was 695,000 back in 1982.

The reason for the economy-crushing “lockdowns,” of course, is the COVID-19 pandemic, which so far has resulted in over 500,000 confirmed cases and over 22,000 deaths in the U.S. While many polls have found that Americans have largely supported social distancing measures, the latest study by Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight has found that more Americans are worried about the impact of the virus on the economy than the virus itself.

According to the latest poll averages, FiveThirty Eight reports that 38.8% of Americans are “very worried” that “they, someone in their family or someone else they know will become infected with the coronavirus.” Another 36.3% say they are “somewhat” worried that will happen. The percentage who say they are “very” concerned has increased by about 6% over the last week. While a total of 75.1% say they are at least somewhat worried about the virus, 23.6% say they are either “not very” worried (15.8%) or “not at all” worried (7.8%).

While the percentage of people who are at least somewhat worried about the virus has risen over the last few weeks, it still does not match the number who feel the same degree of worry about the coronavirus’s effect on the U.S. economy. A total of 86.9% say they are “very” worried (57.1%) or “somewhat” worried (29.8%) about the economic impact. A total of just 12% say they are “not very” worried (8.8%) or “not at all” worried (3.2%)

full story at https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-more-americans-worried-about-economy-than-coronavirus