Americans have converted to mask culture, survey finds

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Fri, 2020-12-18 11:40 — mike kraft

Americans have converted to mask culture, survey finds Most Americans now accept the benefits of wearing masks and wearing them around others, a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey published Friday finds. Mallika Kallingal and Maggie Fox, CNN CNN

(CNN) Most Americans now accept the benefits of wearing masks and wearing them around others, a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey published Friday finds.

As Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths surge nationwide, most Americans say they can keep up social distancing until the pandemic has eased or until there's a vaccine -- and most think they'll need to. The KFF survey also finds that just over half of those polled think the worst of the pandemic is yet to come. ...

The KFF survey also finds that deep partisan divides persist, but more people than ever before worry the pandemic will affect them personally.

"The share of the public who say they are worried that they or someone in their family will get sick from coronavirus is at its highest point since KFF began tracking this question in February (68%)," the Foundation said in a statement.

These fears may have motivated people to accept public health advice about wearing masks and staying away from other people. Asked how often they wear a protective mask when out of the house and in contact with other people, 96% of those polled said some, most or all of the time.

The survey found 23% of those polled felt wearing a mask is a personal choice while 73% felt mask use "is part of everyone's responsibility to protect the health of others."

"While an overwhelming majority of Democrats (93%) and a large majority of independents (70%) say wearing a mask is everyone's responsibility to protect public health, Republicans are more divided on this issue with half (50%) saying it is everyone's responsibility and a similar share saying it is a personal choice (45%)," the survey found.

"Republican denialism mirroring President Trump, even in the face of a growing epidemic in red states, has become a real public health challenge that the incoming administration will need to take on," Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement. ...

A quarter of those surveyed by the KFF said the worst is over when it comes to the pandemic, while 51% said the worst is yet to come. While 19% said the coronavirus is or will not be a major problem in the US. ...

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