Majority fears bringing COVID-19 home from work

A new Washington Post-Ipsos poll found that nearly 6 in 10 Americans – 58 percent of respondents — fear that they could be exposed to the coronavirus while working and bring it back to their homes.

Black and Hispanic respondents were even more worried, with 72 percent of Hispanics polled and 69 percent of African American respondents saying they worried about being exposed to the coronavirus at work.

Statistics have repeatedly illustrated that minority communities are being disproportionately hit by the virus, with higher per capital death tolls and case counts.

Democrats are more worried about bringing the virus home from work than Republicans.

Sixty-six percent of those who lean Democrat said they are concerned about exposing members of their household to the virus if they are working, compared to 47 percent of Republicans. 

Nearly 1 in 3 respondents have continued to leave the house for their work at least one a week amid the ongoing pandemic, the poll found. 

The survey found that nearly 8 in 10 of those polled who are working outside of their home said their employers were taking precautions to keep them safe, with 70 percent saying their employer gave them face masks, over 80 percent saying their employer provided them with hand sanitizer and nearly 90 percent saying that they have access to soap and water to wash their hands.

The poll is the first nationally representative survey of what actions employers are taking to protect their workers, according to The Washington Post.

Of those continuing to commute to work daily, 10 percent worked in the health care industry. Seven percent each worked in sales and administrative support and 6 percent worked in food preparation. 

Interviews with survey respondents showed that workers are concerned with mass transportation and interacting with co-workers and clients. This is especially the case with people who suffer from preexisting health conditions and may be at higher risk for a more life-threatening infection, The Washington Post reported.

The poll was conducted April 27 through May 4 through an Ipsos online survey panel. A sample of 8,086 U.S. adults were polled with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 1 percentage point. The margin of error is 2.5 percentage points among the 2,302 people surveyed.