66% of Americans still concerned about virus exposure

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - A vast majority of Americans maintain fears about being exposed to the coronavirus as discussions about a second wave continue in the US, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Gallup poll showed 29% of the populace "very worried" about being infected while 66% are "very plus somewhat worried."

While most of the world, including the US, are on a downward trend, a recent peak in cases reported in some states amid reopening plans have raised questions about a possible second wave.

California, Texas, Arizona and Florida currently are reporting the highest daily and weekly increases in case counts.

US President Donald Trump's administration explains the increase in the case tally, which stands at more than 2 million, as ramped up testing, defending the reopening of the economy.

Concerns were significantly raised since early February, when Gallup found only 36% of Americans had serious concerns about being exposed. That figure nearly doubled in March to 60% - 63%, and hit 67% in late April.

Black and Hispanic Americans are much more likely than whites to express a “very worried" levels of concern, 37% and 50%, respectively. While just 25% of whites gave the same response.

The survey revealed a large gap in concern about exposure across political parties, with 85% of Democrats are at least somewhat worried they will come into contact with the virus, compared to 47% of Republicans and 66% of Independents.

Democrats, 42%, are also nearly three times as likely as Republicans, 15%, to be very worried and 11 points likelier than Independents.

The poll was conducted between May 28 and June 4, with interviews with 1,034 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country by coronavirus with more than 2.1 million cases and over 117,000 fatalities, according to a running tally of Johns Hopkins. It has more than 583,500 recoveries.