James Gordon
This is significantly less than the 67% who said so in a Gallup poll at the end of March and the beginning of April.
What’s the point? The coronavirus outbreak was forgotten in the media by last month’s elections. But only because the media do not report on the pandemic to the same extent if it does not mean that it has disappeared.
In fact, we are facing some of the worst figures of the coronavirus in a long time, and unlike the beginning of the year, it is far from clear that there is a public will to do what is necessary to slow down the rate of infection.
A look at the numbers tells a story. The virus is currently raging in almost every state. At the time of writing, CNN’s analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the number of cases of the coronavirus has increased in all states in the past week except Georgia. A study of New York Times data shows that an average of 15 new cases per 100,000 people per day were reported in more than 90 percent of states last week.
It’s terrible that there are more new cases of the coronavirus every day than anywhere else in the pandemic.
Even in states presented as success stories. Take the state of New York, which has one of the most extensive screening programs in the country. The first one. In September, 0.8% of the tests were positive for the daily, 7-day and 14-day values. This week, the daily rate was above 3% on at least one day, while the 7- and 14-day averages were above 2%. This is a significant increase.
This increase in positivity comes at a time when the number of tests has increased compared to two months ago, which should reduce positivity if the number of cases remains unchanged.
Indeed, not only cases and checks, but also national cases. According to the Times, the number of deaths and hospital admissions has risen by more than 33%.
We’re in a very troubled world, to say the least.
However, it seems that the American public or electorate does not have the same desire as we had in April to do everything possible to keep the virus at bay.
It’s not just that most Americans don’t want to say they’re likely to find shelter on the ground. That’s what they’re not isolating right now. An apparent majority (62%) indicated that they were only partially or not isolated in a Gallup poll at the end of October. This percentage is half of what it was in April (30%).
In an Axios/Ipsos survey conducted at the end of October, 53 percent of respondents admitted that they were not always at least 1.80 metres away from other people when they were not at home. It was one of the highest percentages of the pandemic. Last April, the percentage of those who said they did not keep a distance of at least 1.80 m never exceeded 34%.
And while 46 percent of Americans say they haven’t started planning a vacation yet, those planning a party are fairly evenly divided between close family members and those they live with (30 percent) and those outside this small group (24 percent).
In other words, there seems to be a real chance that the holiday will become a breeding ground for the spread of the coronavirus, because people gather in nearby places with people they do not live with. (Public health officials say that these small meetings represent the number of transfers).
Probably the most disturbing thing about this research data is that the Americans seem to understand that the country is on the wrong track in terms of how we deal with the virus.
Most (61%) told Gallup that the coronavirus was deteriorating. Only 23% believe the situation will improve, which is one of the lowest rates of the pandemic so far.
Although the Americans know that we are on the wrong track, this has not yet caused the kind of change of habit that would have been necessary to reduce the last wave of cases.
If the Americans don’t change their minds quickly, the situation with the virus could deteriorate considerably.
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James Gordon
