Below is a monthly update, marking key metrics and commentary in from mid-July to mid-August, the fifth month since lockdowns began.
Polling Round Up
For the second month, Gallup tracked an increase in the number of people who are worried about contracting the virus, now at an all time high of 59%, a 6% increase over last month. People worried about financial hardship also increased this month to a high of 54%.
Pew released a poll i the first week of August:
69% Greater concern that state governments are lifting restrictions too quickly
73%: More effective way to help economy is significantly reduce coronavirus infections
On August 15, only 39.4% of the country approved of Trump’s handling of the crisis. The approval spread stands at -17.9% underwater, a slight improvement from July.
Political Weirding
The CDC released a big study of antibodies this week. Key findings: The findings suggest that large numbers of people who did not have symptoms or did not seek medical care may have kept the virus circulating in their communities
New York Times: Gone is any sense that the country may soon gain control of the pandemic. Instead, the seven-day average for new infections hovered around 65,000 for two weeks. Progress in some states has been mostly offset by growing outbreaks in parts of the South and the Midwest.
New data shows how many deaths probably went unreported, meaning the number is already above 200,000.