Nearly 7 in 10 Americans say the US response to the coronavirus outbreak makes them feel embarrassed, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, as 62% of the public says President Donald Trump could be doing more to fight the outbreak.
The new poll finds disapproval of Trump’s handling of the outbreak at a new high, 58%, as the share who say the worst of the pandemic is yet to come has risen to 55% after dropping through the spring. And as the virus has spread from the nation’s cities throughout its countryside, the number who know someone who’s been diagnosed with the virus has jumped dramatically to 67%, up from 40% in early June.
And Americans are angry. About 8 in 10 say they are at least somewhat angry about the way things are going in the country today, including an astonishing 51% who say they are very angry. CNN has asked this question in polling periodically since 2008, and the previous high for the share who said they were “very angry” was 35%, reached in 2008 and 2016.
A narrow majority of Americans, 52%, say they are not comfortable returning to their regular routines right now, and in the last two months, this group’s expectations for when they might return to life as it was before the coronavirus have changed dramatically. In June, just 9% overall said they weren’t comfortable now and didn’t think they would be this year. Now, that figure stands at 26%.
Two of the most notable markers of resuming regular life – returning to school and the restart of professional sports – divide people.
Nearly 6 in 10 (57%) say schools in their area should not be open for in-person instruction this fall, while 39% say they should be open. Parents are more apt to say schools should open (47%), but a narrow majority say they should not (52%). This issue is sharply driven by partisanship: 74% of Republicans say their local schools should be open vs. 12% of Democrats.
Whether pro sports should continue after disruption to some Major League Baseball games due to outbreaks among the players and staff divides the public about evenly: 49% say they should not be playing games, and 45% say they should.
The partisan divisions that have been the hallmark of public opinion on the coronavirus continue in this new poll.
Democrats (76%) and independents (58%) are far more likely to say the worst is yet to come in the outbreak than are Republicans (26%), and the poll finds a massive 64-point gap between the percentages of Republicans and Democrats who say they are comfortable returning to their regular routines today (82% among Republicans, 18% among Democrats).
Democrats are nearly unanimous in saying they are more embarrassed than proud about the American response to the virus (93% embarrassed, 5% proud), while Republicans are mostly proud (61% say so vs. 33% who are embarrassed).
And anger in this election lies more among the backers of former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president, than supporters of Trump. In July 2016, 54% of Trump suppo