Americans Who Say COVID-19 Death Toll Overinflated Rises to 31%

The percentage of Americans who don't believe the death toll of the coronavirus is as high as the official count has gone up to 31% from 23% when the same question was asked in May, according to the Axios-Ixsos Coronavirus Index released on Tuesday.

Among Republicans the percentage of those who who say it is overinflated particularly skyrocketed, from 40% to 59%. For independents, the rise was much less dramatic (24% to 32%) and for Democrats was negligible (7% to 9%).

The percentage who say the death toll is overinflated also went up considerably for those who watch Fox News for their primary source of news, from 44% to 62%.

"We live in highly tribal and partisan times, and people are more likely to believe cues and signals from their political leaders than the scientists or the experts," said Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs President Cliff Young, adding that “people still can think that the media and politicos are using it to go after [President Donald] Trump."

Other results from the poll indicate:

• Thirty seven percent of Americans overall believe the actual number of deaths is higher while 31% say the official count is accurate.
• Seventy-two percent say they are ready to maintain social distancing or self-quarantining for as long as it takes, which is significantly higher than the 49% who said so in May.
• Use of face masks is at a high, with 99% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans saying they're wearing one sometimes or all of the time when they go out. 

The poll was conducted July 17-20 and was based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,037 adults. The margin of sampling error is 3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

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