×

Iowa Politics with Jeff Stein — Wed. Jul. 01, 2020

By Tim Martin Jul 1, 2020 | 6:17 AM

COVID-19, Month Five

Today, the first of July, is the start of month five since phrases like COVID-19, pandemic, and coronavirus became part of our daily vernacular.

We heard for some time that people were suffering from cabin fever, tired of being cooped up at home, and eager to re-open all aspects of life. Now that we’ve been reopening for more than a month, though, some apparently are having second thoughts.

For what it’s worth, a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released today says more than three quarters of voters, 76 percent, say Americans “should continue to social distance for as long as is needed to curb the spread of coronavirus, even if it means continued damage to the economy”…that’s up 7 points from the beginning of June and up 5 points from the previous week alone. Those numbers suggest to some that voters appear increasingly alarmed about the recent increase in cases…but again, advocating social distancing is a far cry from advocating shutting things back down.

Or does it…here’s a telling stat…while 61 percent of Americans say the coronavirus crisis is getting worse throughout the country, though only 41 percent say it’s getting worse in their own state, according to the new poll. That suggests that we know how things are where we live, but we’re willing to be swayed by news coverage and what we’re told.

This poll also tested the issue of federal funding for state COVID-19 testing…that testing issue having been in the news a lot…only 5 percent of voters say the federal government should decrease funding for states’ coronavirus testing, while 58 percent say federal funding for testing should actually be increased.

The protests and riots of the past month took COVID-19 off the top of the news…it’s back there now, because it never really left. Our challenge is how to live with the virus around us.

 News/Talk 1540 KXEL · Iowa Politics — Wed. Jul. 01, 2020