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According to the poll, 50 percent of Americans said they or someone in their household has lost their jobs or hours due to the virus, up from 18 percent from a previous poll just a month ago.
"There are few households in the country that haven't been affected by this crisis, through health, through school, through jobs, from all walks of life, from all backgrounds," Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll, said. "No one has really gone untouched.
“However, we certainly see from the data as well that a lack of a strong safety net,” she continued. “Especially for many middle-class or working-class Americans, it has some really, really big holes in it.”
Of those polled, more than 80 percent said they do not want schools, restaurants or large sporting events to start taking place as normal again until there is further testing. Of the respondents, two-thirds don't want Americans to physically go back to work without widespread testing, though a majority of Republicans do.
“The numbers show the struggle, the impact this crisis has had on Americans,” Carvalho added.
The poll also found that most people think President Donald Trump has handled the pandemic poorly, though nine in 10 Republicans support his efforts. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden; however, earned favorable reviews from those polled.
In total, 44 percent of Americans would prefer having Trump handling the pandemic, as opposed to 56, who said they’d prefer Biden be at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19.
The survey of 1,008 people was conducted from Tuesday, April 21 through Sunday, April 26. Complete results from the poll can be found here.
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