Aug. 30, 2023 – Just 7% of U.S. adults are “very worried” about getting COVID-19, according to a new poll.
That’s down from 11% of people who said in a similar poll that they were very worried in September 2022 about the virus. At that time, 43% said they were at least somewhat worried. In this latest poll, conducted between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21, 31% of people said they are at least somewhat worried, according to the poll from Yahoo News.
"With the messaging from the federal government and their partners in spring of 2023 about ending the pandemic, I think most Americans received that message," Judith O'Donnell, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, told the news outlet. "In fact, most Americans returned to living their lives like they did prior to 2020, even before the government messaging was shared. Americans have moved beyond the COVID-19 pandemic."
The Yahoo survey was conducted by the polling group YouGov and included responses from 1,665 nationally representative U.S. adults.
The new survey also showed that 9% of people closely follow current COVID infection levels, and 33% said they are following infection levels at least somewhat closely.
COVID metrics have risen steadily since June after reaching the lowest point since the pandemic started. For the week ending Aug. 19, about 15,000 people were newly hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19 across the U.S., which is about the same number seen in June 2021, March 2022, and April 2023. The impact of the virus appears poised for a new phase as schools resume classes and cold weather approaches. Recently, public health officials have increased communications about potential risks posed by new variants as the virus evolves.
The next CDC update on COVID data is expected on Thursday.