Sixty-six percent said they thought returning to a pre-pandemic life was now a moderate risk or a high risk. The poll was conducted from February 5 to 8 and is based on a nationally representative sample of 1,030 individuals aged 18 and older.
The groups least likely to see Covid-19 as a risk were people 18 to 29 years old (58%) and Republicans (49%), the poll found. Meanwhile, 76% of those vaccinated still saw the coronavirus as high risk.
“Certain groups are discovering they are invincible and think they are not going to get as sick as others,” said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University’s Milken Institute. School of Public Health.
Many Americans are unsure which activities are safe, the poll also suggested: 28% of respondents say they attend gatherings with family or friends; 22% say they will wait for their circle to be vaccinated; 24% said they would wait for officials to say it was safe; and 24% don’t know. Getting together almost or only with people you live with is safest, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Only 10% of Democrats and 15% of the over-65s have attended in-person meetings, compared to 42% of Republicans. People over 65 years old (29%) and people with a college education are more likely to wait for the vaccine (34%).
The poll’s findings come at a time when there is less trust in the media and information sources about the pandemic. Confidence in cable news has fallen from 50% to 38% since April. Online news was trusted by 36% of the respondents and network news by 47%.
The poll found that 68% of Americans trust the CDC to provide accurate information about Covid-19, while 51% of Republicans do. Fifty-three percent of Americans continue to trust what President Joe Biden says.
Why some misunderstand pandemic risks
What the poll “illustrates to me is that people don’t understand where we are in the pandemic, for good reason,” Wen said.
“People don’t understand that the risk for many people is actually greatest in those they love rather than strangers” as we spend more time with loved ones, “Wen said. There is a level of magical thinking when it comes to it. against coronavirus. Due to asymptomatic transmission, we do not know who has the virus and who does not. ”
After plateaus from previous spikes in the number of cases, Wen added, cases have increased again when people have dropped their guard. Viewing or reading news sources that view the pandemic as a hoax could develop inaccurate perceptions, she said.
What anyone can deal with, no matter what they believe, is pandemic fatigue. “We get tired of making decisions during uncertainty, and some of us will ignore the warnings to reclaim our routines,” said Jacqueline Gollan, who holds two professorships at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine: one in psychiatry and one in psychiatry. behavioral sciences, and another in obstetrics. in gynecology. “We prefer fun now and risk pain later.”
How to adequately assess risks
“One is the concept of harm reduction, recognizing that everything we do carries some risk, but there are things we can do to reduce that risk,” Wen said. “Masking, avoiding indoor gatherings, keeping physical distance – they are additive. The more of these measures we do, the better we are protected.”
Second, she added, cumulative risk is also added. “Just because you are engaged in one activity that carries a relatively higher risk does not mean you should engage in others,” she said.
Going back to work, for example, doesn’t have to mean allowing yourself to attend birthday parties. And when your kids go back to school, they don’t have to attend every extracurricular activity. Base your decisions on what is essential, safe and valuable to you – in that order.
Rather than getting together with people you don’t live with, it’s best to stick with virtual hangouts. If you’ve freely enjoyed a social life but are fortunately not infected with the coronavirus, know that those times don’t mean you will continue to be lucky, Wen said.
Be careful about developing a mindset that you don’t want to change. “We pay more attention to information that fits the mental model, we pay less attention to information that contradicts them, and we distort information to make it fit,” Gollan said. “If we think it is unsafe, we will continue to try to assume that activities are unsafe.”
If you don’t know if you can trust an information source, asking yourself that question is a good start, Wen said. Local health departments, the CDC, hospitals such as Cleveland Clinic or Johns Hopkins Hospital, and acclaimed news outlets are some credible sources. “Make sure that health science supports what you read or hear or believe,” Gollan said, as well as what you want to do.
Remember we’re not over the worst, Wen said. “If the variants (which are more contagious) become dominant here, we could face the kind of disasters that many countries in Europe and South Africa have experienced.”
Look for sources of inspiration to practice your safety habits, such as visualizing rewards for your choices. Those rewards can include your health, the health of your family, or the well-being of society.
Think about everything you want to do when the world is safe again. Because that time is coming, Wen said, and it’s worth the wait to get there.