Americans more comfortable with small steps as states reopen: survey

Americans are wary of participating in a variety of activities as a number of states prepare to reopen sections of their economy, a new survey released by the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project shows.

As a number of states reopen and more are setting the groundwork to do so, respondents to the poll said they are more comfortable with small steps than full returns to normal life following stay-at-home orders and self quarantines that have taken place nationwide amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Of those surveyed, 58 percent said they would definitely not or probably not go to the movies, while 57 percent said the same about attending a professional sporting event.

When asked if they would send their child to school, 44 percent of Americans surveyed said they probably or definitely would not send their child to back to school.

Forty-nine percent said they probably or definitely would not go out to a restaurant to eat.

There were some activities that the majority of respondents said they would be comfortable in doing.

Nearly 60 percent said they would be comfortable going to a friend’s house to eat dinner and 52 percent said they would be comfortable getting a haircut.

In every activity, Republicans were more comfortable with participating than Democrats, the poll found. For example, 55 percent of Republican respondents said they probably or definitely would eat at a restaurant, while only 40 percent of Democrats surveyed said the same.

Conducted April 16-23, the poll surveyed 5,997 Americans and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.