Poll: U.S. COVID-19 Situation Increasingly Bleak

As coronavirus infections are spiking in U.S. states that previously had not been hard-hit, a new high of 65% of U.S. adults say the coronavirus situation is getting worse.

A new Gallup poll reveals the percentage of Americans who believe the situation is getting worse has increased from 48% the preceding week, and from 37% two weeks prior.

The latest results, from June 22-28, are based on Gallup's online COVID-19 tracking survey, which interviews weekly random samples from Gallup's probability-based panel. Last week, governors in many states paused or rolled back plans to ease restrictions on economic activity as states in the South and West dealt with a surge in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.

Gallup first asked Americans in early April to say whether they thought the coronavirus situation was getting better or worse. At that time, 56% said it was getting worse and 28% better, the most negative assessment prior to the latest reading. From late April through early June, there were several weeks in which more Americans said the situation was getting better than getting worse.

Today, there is widespread agreement among Americans in all parts of the country that the situation is getting worse. Between 62% and 68% of those living in the four major regions of the U.S. say it is worsening. These rates represent heightened concern over the prior week in all four regions, including increases of 13 percentage points for those living in the South and Midwest, 19 points for those in the West and 22 points for those in the Northeast.

Americans' greater pessimism is also apparent in the 74% who expect the level of disruption to travel, school, work and public events in the U.S. to persist through the end of this year (37%) or beyond that (37%). This represents a 10-point increase from the prior week in the percentage of U.S. adults who think the coronavirus situation will last at least until the end of the year. In early May, less than half of Americans expected the situation to last that long.

The percentage of Americans who say they are very or somewhat worried about getting the coronavirus has increased from 48% to 56%, a level not seen since late April. It is also one point off the trend's record high of 57%, registered in the initial measurement the week of April 6-12.

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