Most adults responding to the latest Gallup polling say for the first time that the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, but most also say their lives have not returned to normal.
Among those responding to the polling company’s latest survey, a record-high 64% declared the pandemic finished, up from 39% in the last poll in February. The remaining 36% said the pandemic has not yet run its course, Gallup reported Wednesday.
Democrats drove the shift, according to the company. In the latest poll, 51% of Democrats said the pandemic has ended, up from 28% in February.
“These changes may be due, at least in part, to a series of official announcements about the pandemic nationally and globally,” Gallup said. “In April, President Joe Biden signed a congressional resolution to end the nation’s state of emergency, and in May both the U.S. and global declarations of a public health emergency ended.”
By comparison, most Republicans declared the pandemic over in April 2022. Most independents said the same in February.
Just 18% of all adults worry about catching the virus. That’s the lowest since 17% expressed this fear in June 2021, when the company first posed the question.
Despite this positive outlook, 56% of respondents said their lives have not returned to pre-pandemic normalcy compared with 43% who said they are back to normal. Only 15% of the former said they expect their lives will eventually feel normal again, while 41% said things will never return to normal.
These numbers have improved only slightly since the February poll.
“Just as optimism about the pandemic’s trajectory has grown, so too have expectations for a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, but less so,” Gallup said. “As time passes, Americans may well become further convinced that normalcy is within their grasp.”
The polling company surveyed 4,556 members of its Gallup Panel from May 30-June 6. The margin of error was plus or minus 2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.