66% of Americans Remain Worried About Exposure to COVID-19

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States surpasses 2 million, Americans' worry about COVID-19 exposure has plateaued over the past month, perhaps in response to a slight downward trend in new cases in May. Still, pluralities of black and Hispanic Americans say they are "very worried" that they or their family will be exposed to the virus.

When Gallup first asked the question in early February, it had been less than two weeks since the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported in the United States on Jan. 22. At that time, 12% of Americans said they were very worried that they or someone in their family would be exposed to the virus, and another 24% were somewhat worried. That sentiment more than doubled in the following month, and the very worried measure peaked at 32% in late April. As of June 4, about 3 in 10 Americans remain very worried about coming into contact with the virus, with 66% either very or somewhat worried, a percentage that has remained between 63-67% since mid-March.

At the time of Gallup's most recent survey (May 28-Jun 4), protests in response to the death of George Floyd had just begun to spread across the United States, bringing thousands of people into close proximity with one another. Moreover, all 50 states had announced or begun to implement reopening plans for businesses. While it is too early to assess whether Americans' increased in-person interactions at stores, restaurants or demonstrations will have an impact on the spread of the virus, they do not seem to have affected Americans' concerns about exposure.

Black, Hispanic Americans Notably More Concerned Than White Counterparts

When combining the results of two recent surveys from mid-April and early June to allow a more in-depth look at subgroups, there are modest differences in worry of exposure across gender, age and income groups. The starkest disparities -- particularly among those who are very worried -- appear among racial and ethnic groups: black and Hispanic Americans are much more likely than white respondents to express the highest level of concern that they, or someone in their family, will be exposed to the virus.

	Very worried	Somewhat worried	Not too worried	Not worried at all
	%	%	%	%
All adults	31	36	20	13
Gender
Male	27	37	20	15
Female	34	36	20	11
Race
White	25	39	22	13
Black	37	32	19	11
Hispanic	50	30	11	9
Age
18-29	29	37	22	13
30-49	34	34	18	15
50-64	30	37	20	13
65+	26	40	22	12
Income
<$40,000	33	34	19	14
$40,000-$99,999	28	38	22	12
$100,000+	30	39	18	13
Political party
Democrat	42	43	11	4
Independent	31	35	21	13
Republican	15	32	29	23
Data reflect combined results from surveys conducted April 14-28 and May 28-June 4, 2020
Gallup

Black respondents (37%) are 12-percentage-points more likely to say they are very worried about exposure than those who are white (25%). Half of Hispanic Americans also say they are very worried. This heightened worry among black and Hispanic Americans is in line with CDC findings that COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting minorities. The gap may also reflect a higher concern among minorities that their family members will be the ones infected: black and Hispanic Americans are much likelier to live in a multigenerational home and may fear passing the virus to their older relatives.

As with many other questions related to COVID-19, there is also a large gap in concern about exposure across political parties. Eighty-five percent of Democrats are at least somewhat worried that they or their family will come into contact with the virus, compared with 47% of Republicans and 66% of independents. Democrats (42%) are also nearly three times as likely as Republicans (15%) to be very worried, and 11 points likelier than independents (31%).

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

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