Voters wary on returning to society when social distancing restrictions are lifted, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.
The only locations a majority of voters said they were comfortable returning to when restrictions are lifted were grocery stores, at 62 percent.
Roughly half of voters said they were comfortable going to polling sites and restaurants each, at 51 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
Forty-nine percent of voters said they would feel comfortable going to large retail stores, 47 percent said that of churches, and 42 percent of voters said they’d feel comfortable going to a hospital when restrictions are lifted.
The events that voters are the most wary of are concerts and large sporting events, both receiving 33 percent of voters reporting being comfortable going to once social distancing measures are relaxed.
“There’s nervousness,” Karlyn Bowman, senior fellow and public opinion analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, told The Hill.
“But you’re seeing a public that’s willing to go back carefully,” she added.
In the April 6-7 survey, Republican voters were generally more open than Democrats or independents to going back to the type of locations listed.
The widest partisan divide found in the poll was on the issue of attending church when social distancing restrictions were lifted, where Republican voters were 20 points more likely than Democratic voters and 16 points more likely than independent voters to say they feel comfortable going to church when guidances are relaxed.
President Trump announced Wednesday that the White House will release guidelines on Thursday informing states on how to relax social distancing restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, in efforts to reopen the economy.
—Gabriela Schulte
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