Americans’ outlook on pandemic improves as delta wave wanes: Gallup

Americans’ concerns over the coronavirus pandemic are falling as COVID-19 cases fall across the country, according to a new poll.

The Gallup survey shows that following the summer surge caused by the delta variant, which has waned in most parts of the country, the percentage of Americans who say the pandemic is improving has gone up to 51 percent from 20 percent in September. 

In addition, Americans’ fear of catching COVID-19 has dropped a bit as well, according to the survey giant. Thirty-six percent of respondents are now concerned about getting COVID-19, down from 40 percent in September. 

Gallup’s survey of 4,000 respondents was conducted Oct. 18-24. Its results have a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Gallup notes that the interviews were done while COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths were down following a peak in the summer months. 

At the end of September, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that he believed the delta wave “could be the last major surge” in the United States.

“I think by Thanksgiving, it’s probably going to have run its course across the whole country,” Gottlieb said at the time. “But it’s going to seep into the northern parts of the country, the Northeast a little bit later than certainly in the South but even in the Midwest.”

As of Tuesday, COVID-19 cases in the U.S. were at a daily average of about 73,000, down 8 percent in the last two weeks, according to a New York Times report using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. 

Hospitalizations are also reportedly down 16 percent in the last two weeks, and deaths have fallen 18 percent in the past 14 days. 

Approximately 68 percent of eligible Americans are now vaccinated, the Times noted.