“Americans more worried about reopening too quickly than not opening quickly enough, survey says”, USA Today

Rebecca Morin, May 8, 2020

WASHINGTON – As states around the country begin reopening, a new survey suggests the majority of Americans are more worried about social distancing measures being loosened too quickly than are worried about the country not reopening quickly enough.

Nearly three out of four Americans — 71% — say they are more concerned by the government lifting social distancing restrictions too quickly, according to a survey from the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project. That’s more than double the 29% who say they are worried restrictions are not being lifted quickly enough.

Even as some experts and medical projections have warned that coronavirus cases could spike if the country reopens too quickly, about 50% of states have partially reopened or loosened social distancing restrictions that were put in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Other states have maintained stay-at-home orders and other restrictions with an eye on the still-growing number of cases nationally.

And few Americans believe it’s safe now for various social distancing restrictions to be scaled back, according to an analysis on Nationscape Insights, a project of Democracy Fund, UCLA, and USA TODAY, while the majority of Americans think it won’t be safe for a combination of weeks or months.