A new poll finds that most Americans are feeling more confident dealing with the waning COVID-19 pandemic as the restrictions end nationwide.
An Axios/Ipsos poll found that 64% are in favor of lifting pandemic restrictions as the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, plummet, but 3 in 4 say they would go back to wearing masks if a new variant broke out where they live.
"As the mandates ended, behaviors changed across the board," said Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. public affairs. "The mandate itself was signaling risk, and as the mandate went down that signal went dormant."
About a third of Americans, 32%, say they have returned to pre-COVID-19 routines, with another 23% expecting they will return to normal in the next six months, according to the survey.
And 61% of those surveyed say they went out to eat in the last month, while 59% say they have visited friends or relatives, and just 36% say they are still “social distancing.”
About a third, 33%, say that returning to normal activities represents a moderate to large risk, compared to 56% who believe that a month ago, according to the survey.
While 43% of those surveyed say they wore masks outside of the home last month, just 26% report masking up outside of the home today.
Less than 40% say they are required to wear masks while at work, down from 52% just two weeks ago, according to the survey.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the seven-day average of new cases nationwide fell to 34,114 on March 13, compared to the high of 805,325 on Jan. 15 as the omicron variant surged through the country.
The seven-day average number of deaths also decreased to 1,187 on March 13, compared to 2,647 on Feb. 2.
While most people feel confident about the pandemic restrictions ending, they are not as optimistic about understanding information from the government or media regarding the virus.
"While we're definitely seeing this movement toward opening up, public understanding of what's going on is still not super-duper strong," cautioned Ipsos pollster and Senior Vice President Chris Jackson.
Just 1 in 3 respondents says they were aware that more than 1,000 people are still dying daily from the disease.
The poll was conducted between March 11-14 with a sample of 957 adults aged 18 and older and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
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