Report · Apr 30, 2020
Americans’ Risk Perceptions and Emotional Responses to COVID-19 – April 2020
By Matthew Ballew, Parrish Bergquist, Matthew Goldberg, Abel Gustafson, John Kotcher, Jennifer Marlon, Seth Rosenthal, Edward Maibach and Anthony Leiserowitz
Filed under: Messaging
1. Life Disruptions from COVID-19
1.1. Most Americans say the coronavirus epidemic has disrupted their daily life.
About seven in ten Americans say their daily life has been disrupted by the spread of the coronavirus either “a lot” (38%) or “some” (34%). Fewer Americans say their daily life has been disrupted “a little” (21%) or “not at all” (5%).
1.2. How the coronavirus has disrupted daily life.
More than half of Americans say they or a member of their household has been unable to get disinfectant products (57%) or visit family members who are at higher risk of infection (53%). About four in ten say they or a household member has had trouble sleeping (42%). Three in ten or more say they or a household member has lost money in retirement accounts or investments (38%), had work hours reduced (34%), lost income from a job or business (32%), or been unable to get groceries (30%).
Nearly one in five Americans say they or a household member has filed for unemployment (18%), lost a job (17%), or been unable to get adequate medical care (17%). About one in eight say they or a household member has been unable to get prescription medicine (12%).
Hispanics/Latinos – as well as liberal/moderate Republicans – are more likely than other Americans to say they or a member of their household has experienced economic consequences, such as job loss, income loss from a job or business, or reduced work hours (see Appendix I: Data Tables, pp. 99-120).