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Only 5% of Americans in Survey Say Things Are Going Very Well

Only 5% of Americans in Survey Say Things Are Going Very Well

Americans are downbeat as coronavirus cases spike in many states and the economy is mired in recession, a new CBS poll shows.

Only 5% said things in America are going “very well,” against 40% who said they’re going “very badly,” according to the survey, taken June 23-26. Another 19% said things were “somewhat well” and 36% said “somewhat badly.”

Most Americans said that, as they look back a few months, the Trump administration wasn’t ready to deal with the coronavirus outbreak when it started in early 2020, according to a CBS News poll.

Some 72% judged the administration “unprepared” against 28% who said it was “prepared.”

The poll results were released on a day when U.S. virus cases have exceeded 2.5 million, and deaths are over 125,000, in both cases the world’s highest. The U.S. has set records this week for daily cases, a contrast to European countries that have almost stamped out Covid-19 for now. Administration officials tie rising cases to increased testing. Health experts disagree.

Almost half, 49%, said the virus outbreak would get worse over the summer. The remainder was split between those who think it will get better and those who expect it to stay about the same.

Face Masks

The CBS poll said assessments of how President Donald Trump has handled the virus outbreak continue to slip, to 41% now from 47% in mid-April and 53% in late March.

It also showed that wearing a face mask in public, recommended by most public health officials as a way to slow the spread of Covid-19, has become partisan, with Republicans less inclined to don a mask.

The people surveyed said they trusted their gut on the mask issue more than anything: Of those who use masks, 86% said they were guided by “their own assessments.” Of those, 78% also said they took the word of medical and health professionals and 24% said they followed Trump’s guidance.

The survey of 2,009 U.S. adult residents was conducted for CBS by YouGov and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.