Most Americans think Trump blew coronavirus response and now fear the country will reopen too quickly, poll reveals

Pew Research Centre finds 66 per cent of Americans worry government could lift restrictions too early

Most Americans have said they think the president reacted slow when responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and they now fear the country will open too quickly, a new poll revealed.

In a survey with 4,917 Americans across party lines, the Pew Research Centre found that 66 per cent of Americans were concerned President Donald Trump could open the states too early during the coronavirus.

Within the parties, 81 per cent of Democrats feared social distancing restrictions could be lifted too early, while 51 per cent of Republican held that same concern.

This comes as Mr Trump and state governors were actively seeking options to lift restrictions to help boost the US economy, which has suffered during the pandemic. Unemployment rose to 22m Americans filing for government assistance and industries, such as retail and travel, have reported significant declines in revenue.

“With the Trump administration and many state governors actively considering ways to revive the stalled US economy, the public strikes a decidedly cautious note on easing strict limits on public activity,” Pew reported.

Although a majority of Americans appeared to still want social distancing measures for the near future, there were 32 per cent of residents who feared restrictions wouldn’t be lifted quickly enough, according to the poll.

Mr Trump and his administration has plowed ahead on plans to get the economy going again despite warnings from health officials that reopening too early could cause a resurgence.

During the White House‘s daily press briefing on Thursday, the president unveiled the government’s three-part plan to assist state governors during reopening.

“It’s going to be up to the governors,” he said in regards to reopening the country. The plan included guidelines each state would need to pass in order to move onto another phase of reopening. The president claimed about 29 states could be in the ballpark of starting the reopening process.

But critics including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were quick to dismiss the guidelines.

“The White House’s vague and inconsistent document does nothing to make up for the president’€™s failure to listen to the scientists and produce and distribute national rapid testing,” she said in a statement last night.

One concern about reopening the economy too early was the continued lack of testing across the country. Almost 3.5m Americans have been tested for the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University, which makes up just over 1 per cent of the population.

Dr Deborah Birx, a top health adviser for the president, said a majority of the government’s recommendations hinged on increased testing among states. But state governors have said they need assistance from the federal government in order to test at the level needed to safely reopen.

Americans also had a lack of confidence in how Mr Trump has handled the coronavirus. According to Pew, 65 per cent of residents believed the White House reacted too slow to the pandemic.

Mr Trump’s rhetoric was also surveyed in the poll to gauge how Americans viewed the president’s response.

A slim majority of Americans thought the president was doing only fine or a poor job when addressing the needs of people who lost their jobs (54 per cent), working with state governors (54 per cent), responding to need of hospitals (55 per cent), and providing accurate information (57 per cent).

The president only boasted positive results when it came to addressing the economic needs of businesses, with 51 per cent calling his response good or excellent.

When it came to rhetoric, 52 per cent of Americans thought Mr Trump was “making the situation seem better than it is”.

As talks heat up about reopening the country, Americans were not convinced the US was nearing the end of the pandemic. In fact, 73 per cent of Americans believed the worst was yet to come in problems the US would face because of Covid-19.

The survey was conducted between 7 April and 12 April, but the infection rates and death toll have since significantly increased. The US has confirmed more than 670,000 positive cases and 33,286 have died from the novel virus.