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Public attitudes about the coronavirus response are split along partisan lines in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
www.nbcnews.com
WASHINGTON — A majority of American voters say they're worried that someone in their immediate family might catch the coronavirus, and six-in-10 believe the worst is yet to come for the outbreak inside the United States, a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds.
In addition, more than 40 percent say their day-to-day lives will change as a result of the pandemic.
But public attitudes about the coronavirus — including President Donald Trump's handling of it — are starkly divided along partisan lines, with nearly nine-in-10 Republican voters having confidence in Trump dealing with the outbreak, compared with just a sliver of Democrats who agree.
Indeed, 45 percent of all voters approve of Trump's handling of the issue, which is almost identical to his overall job rating in the poll.
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The NBC News/WSJ poll was conducted March 11-13, and it comes as there have now been 2,600 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, as well as 58 deaths from it in the country.
In the poll, a whopping 99 percent of respondents say they've seen, heard or read about the spread of the coronavirus, including 89 percent who say they've heard "a lot" about the story — the highest percentage the NBC News/WSJ poll has registered for a major event going back to 2009.
A combined 53 percent say they're either "very" or "somewhat" worried that someone in their immediate family might catch the coronavirus, while a combined 47 percent say that they aren't too worried or worried at all.
Forty-one percent of voters believe their day-to-day lives will change in a major way in the future, versus a combined 56 percent — a majority — who say their lives will change only in a "small way" or won't change at all.
And 60 percent think that the worst is yet to come, while 31 percent say the coronavirus is not likely to be a major problem.
But a glaring partisan divide exists within these numbers.
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The same partisan divide also underscores perceptions of President Trump.
In the poll, 45 percent approve of the president's handling of the coronavirus, while 51 percent disapprove.
But Democrats and Republicans have completely opposite views: 81 percent of Republican voters approve of Trump's handling of the issue, while 84 percent of Democrats disapprove.
Independents are split: 43 percent approve, 52 percent disapprove.
Trump's overall job performance — 46 percent approve, 51 percent disapprove — is essentially unchanged from last month's poll, as well as the NBC News/WSJ surveys over the last two years.
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Yet voters have more confidence in their state and local governments than they do in President Trump.
A combined 75 percent of all voters say they have a "great deal" or a "fair amount" of confidence in their state government to deal with the outbreak.
A combined 72 percent say the same of their local government, and 62 percent say it for the federal government.
But just 48 percent say they have confidence in Trump, with Republican respondents having high confidence (89 percent), and with Democrats having very little (15 percent).
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Finally, when it comes to an economy that has seen steep drops and then a big upswing Friday in the financial markets, 47 percent of all voters describe the economy as either excellent or good — down 6 points from a December 2019 CNBC survey conducted by the same polling firms.
That's compared with 52 percent who rate it as either fair or poor — up 8 points from the December CNBC poll.
And 34 percent think the economy will get better in the next year, while 31 percent think it will get worse and another 31 percent say it will stay about the same.
In December, 30 percent said the economy will get better; 24 percent said it would get worse; and 35 percent said it would stay the same.
"There has definitely been a slight tick down," said Republican pollster Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies.
But he adds that the coronavirus news — as it relates to the economy — "has not landed a knockdown punch."