Majority of Americans Accept Risks of Reopening Businesses

After months of social distancing and keeping businesses closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, a new survey suggests Americans are eager to get back to work despite the continued risks associated with the virus.

A new survey from Ipsos shows that 53 percent of U.S. adults either strongly or somewhat agree with businesses reopening even if COVID-19 isn’t fully contained. 43 percent either strongly or somewhat disagree with businesses reopening if the virus isn’t fully contained yet.

Other points on the survey show that Americans are currently split on whether the economy will recover quickly once the lockdown is over. While 45 percent of Americans believe the economy will recover quickly, 50 percent believe it won’t. That means that some Americans are in favor of reopening businesses despite no vaccine against COVID-19 and believe the economy will still recover slowly.

Unsurprisingly, partisanship is still a key predictor of whether consumers will return to businesses once they reopen. Republicans surveyed by Ipsos were more likely to have higher levels of consumer confidence when compared to Independents and Democrats. Republican Americans in the South were even more likely to have high confidence in returning to businesses, while Western Democrats and Independents were the least likely.