Poll: 8 in 10 say they support strict shelter-in-place measures

A new poll finds that 80 percent of adults say strict shelter-in-place measures are worth it to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds a high level of support for stay-at-home measures, as President Trump expresses eagerness to reopen the economy and some officials, like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) are already moving to reopen some businesses. 

Just 19 percent of adults in the poll said shelter-in-place measures are causing more harm than good. 

While Trump last week put out a call to “liberate” certain states, on Wednesday he struck a different note when he said he disagreed with Kemp’s decision to start reopening businesses.

While Democrats had higher support for the shelter-in-place measures, at 94 percent, a majority of Republicans, 61 percent, also supported the measures. 

Just 14 percent of respondents said they are only able to follow strict social distancing guidelines for less than another month. Another 37 percent said they could follow the guidelines for another 1-3 months and 34 percent said more than 6 months. 

People appeared to be heeding the orders to some extent: 70 percent of adults said they had not left home at all in the past week to visit friends or family, though 80 percent said they had left to shop for food or essential items.

Experts say contact tracing, to identify who infected people have been in contact with and isolate them, is a key step to reopening the economy. Some have proposed using an app to help identify who people have been in contact with recently.

Over 60 percent of adults said they would be willing to download such an app if it were managed by the local health department or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared to just 31 percent if it were managed by a private tech company.