Americans back flexible approach on masks, but eager to move on from COVID--Poll

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Tue, 2022-04-26 09:48 — mike kraft

Americans back flexible approach on masks, but eager to move on from COVID-Reuters/Ipsos Most Americans support a flexible approach to the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, with cities reimposing mask mandates when cases surge, even as a growing number are eager to get on with their lives, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Friday found. Jason Lange Reuters

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Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults - including 83% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans - said cities and states should impose mask mandates for indoor public places if there is a resurgence of COVID-19 in their area, the poll found.

At the same time, 44% of respondents said that Americans need to get back to normal and get on with their lives, up from 36% in a poll completed in early February.

The tension between the two sentiments was apparent this week in Philadelphia, which on Monday became the first major U.S. city to reimpose a mask mandate in settings including restaurants, schools and businesses - following a rise in local COVID-19 cases - only to reverse course days later. ..

More than two years into a public health crisis that has killed nearly 1 million Americans, most U.S. states and localities have eased mask and vaccination requirements.

A bipartisan majority of poll respondents - including 53% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans - said the coronavirus pandemic has reached the point where decisions to wear masks or vaccinate should be left to individuals rather than the government.

At the same time, just over half of respondents in the poll said they were more likely to support candidates in November that support continued rules, including mask requirements, to combat the pandemic.

Sixty-five percent of respondents supported mask requirements on airplanes, trains and public transport, even after a federal court on Monday struck down a federal mask mandate on public transportation and airplanes. read more

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