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Have you contracted COVID-19?
- Yes, confirmed with a test
- Yes, given the diagnosis without a test
- Yes, I just knew I had COVID-19
- No, I have not had COVID-19
- Don’t know
Monmouth University released a new poll that found that as of March 2022, 52 percent of Americans believe they’ve had COVID-19 - though not all have been confirmed with a test - up from 40 percent as recently as January.
The numbers show that more people have confirmed COVID-19 cases with a test, while the number who believe they have not contracted the virus has fallen precipitously.
According to reports, this is believed to be the first poll that found a majority of Americans believe that they have been infected at some point during the pandemic.
The poll found that in March, these percentages of Americans believe they had or have not contracted the virus:
- Yes, confirmed with a test: 38 percent (27 percent in January 2022);
- Yes, given the diagnosis without a test: 4 percent (2 percent);
- Yes, I just knew I had COVID-19: 10 percent (11 percent);
- No, I have not had COVID-19: 47 percent (59 percent);
- Don’t know: 2 percent (1 percent).
In each poll, approximately 800 Americans were surveyed.
Pollsters said that 73 percent of Americans agree with the sentiment that “it’s time we accept that COVID-19 is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives” – which is similar to 70 percent who felt this way in January.
Within the group who want to move on from the pandemic, identical numbers actually prefer adjusting COVID-19 guidance in response to new variants (42 percent) as say they want no regulations at all (42 percent).
Another 14 percent of those who say it is time to get on with life want to choose a consistent set of guidelines.
“We asked the same question about accepting COVID-19 is here to stay two months ago and got a similarly high number who want to get on with life,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute stated. “Our working hypothesis was that many people who support mandates simply wanted consistency in the guidelines.
“This new data suggests that is not necessarily the case. For some Americans, getting on with life means constantly being on guard and ready to reinstitute restrictions as new situations emerge.”
Complete results of the Monmouth University poll can be found here.
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