2 in 3 say US is handling pandemic worse than other countries: NPR poll

Two in three respondents said that the U.S. is handling the pandemic worse than other countries, according to a poll released Tuesday.

An NPR-Ipsos poll determined that about 65 percent of participants believe the U.S. is managing the virus either “somewhat worse” or “much worse” than other countries around the world. A total of 25 percent reported the U.S. was doing “much better” or “somewhat better” than other countries, while 9 percent said they didn’t know.

The perception of the U.S.’s handling of the virus differed by party affiliation. A total of 85 percent of Democrats polled, 44 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of independents said the U.S. was handling the pandemic “somewhat worse” or “much worse” than other countries.

The poll also found that more than three-quarters of participants backed state laws mandating that people wear masks in public at all times. Sixty percent of respondents said they would back another two-week stay-at-home order.

Strong majorities of respondents backed giving government funding to expand coronavirus testing and make it free, funding for creating protective and testing equipment and making a future vaccination available to all people.

“We’ve come to a pretty dire place when it comes to both the death toll and the spread of coronavirus across the country,” Mallory Newall, a pollster with Ipsos, said in a statement. “Americans, as they grapple with the reality of just how grave the situation is, they’re looking for sweeping, really broad, powerful action here.”

On reopening schools, the poll was split, with 87 percent of Democratic, 41 percent of Republican and 66 percent of independent respondents saying schooling should be mostly virtual this year. A total of 66 percent of those polled said remote learning was the best move.

The president tweeted on Monday that the U.S. has done “MUCH better than most other Countries,” despite having the highest death count and case count out of any nation.

The NPR-Ipsos poll surveyed 1,115 U.S. adults between July 30-31. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.