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By A 10-to-1 Margin, Americans Support Orders To Stay At Home

By a roughly 10-to-1 margin, Americans say states with stay-at-home orders are making the right call, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov survey conducted Friday and Saturday.

An 81% majority of the public says it’s currently the right decision for states to tell residents to stay at home unless they have an essential reason for going out. Just 8% say it’s the wrong decision. An even broader 89% say they are personally trying to stay home as much as possible, with only 6% saying they’re not making any such effort.

A pedestrian walks past a stay-at-home mural April 2 in Los Angeles, where schools and nonessential businesses are closed and the California governor has ordered people to stay home.  (Jose Sanchez/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A pedestrian walks past a stay-at-home mural April 2 in Los Angeles, where schools and nonessential businesses are closed and the California governor has ordered people to stay home. (Jose Sanchez/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

This willingness to take precautions comes as Americans’ concerns about the potential effects of coronavirus continue to rise. Forty-six percent of Americans now say they’re very concerned they or a family member will contract the virus, doubling the share who said the same in a poll conducted less than a month ago.

Results of a HuffPost/YouGov poll on the coronavirus, conducted April 3-4. (Ariel Edwards-Levy/HuffPost)
Results of a HuffPost/YouGov poll on the coronavirus, conducted April 3-4. (Ariel Edwards-Levy/HuffPost)

A 58% majority say they’re very concerned about the spread of coronavirus across the U.S.

Results of a HuffPost/YouGov poll on the coronavirus, conducted April 3-4. (Ariel Edwards-Levy/HuffPost)
Results of a HuffPost/YouGov poll on the coronavirus, conducted April 3-4. (Ariel Edwards-Levy/HuffPost)

Views of the government response to the coronavirus remain positive. Americans approve, 50% to 41%, of the way the U.S. government is handling issues related to the disease. By 50% to 44%, they approve of President Donald Trump’s response specifically.

About three-quarters of Americans say their daily life has changed at least somewhat compared with the start of the outbreak, with 47% saying their life has changed a lot. Most Americans say the outbreak has yet to significantly affect the quality of their finances, their eating and exercise habits, and their emotional health. But 31% say their finances are in worse shape than they were before the outbreak started, with 30% saying the same thing about their exercise habits, 22% about their eating habits and 35% about their emotional health.

The survey also asked respondents across the country to describe in their own words how the coronavirus outbreak and the nation’s response have affected them. Here are some of their responses, lightly edited for grammar, length and clarity....Continue reading on HuffPost