Coronavirus Pulse Survey Research

Civis Analytics Weekly Report | Fielded Week of March 6, 2020

The world is facing an unprecedented set of circumstances brought on by the outbreak of COVID-19. Questions about the impact to healthcare delivery, the economy, to social norms and to life as we know it are outnumbering clear answers at this time. To replace at least some of the speculation and assumption with objective data, Civis is launching an ongoing survey of Americans across the country and tracking consumers’ changing attitudes and behaviors as this crisis evolves.

In order to track how opinions and behaviors change over time, Civis will be fielding research weekly — starting with an initial benchmark set of questions (below). Subscribe to receive updates as they’re available in your inbox. If you have questions about the research or want to request further analyses, please fill out the form here.

Heightened Coronavirus anxiety in the US

• Most people (66%) stated they are Somewhat Concerned or Very Concerned, with 34% of people indicating that they were Very Concerned about it.

Even before the WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic, people were stocking up on extra supplies.

• 34% of people stated that they have purchased extra supplies. 43% of people said that they had trouble finding an item because it was out of stock.
• The most common out-of-stock items were hand sanitizer, bottled water, masks, paper goods and antiseptic wipes.
• 13% of respondents said they tried to buy masks — despite pleas from the surgeon general and public health authorities not to — but these were out of stock.

Who’s the most anxious about Coronavirus in the US?

• 51% of African American respondents, 43% of Hispanic respondents, and 44% of Asian respondents reported that they were Very Concerned. In comparison, 31% of White respondents felt this way.
• Also more concerned were people with advanced degrees and people with higher incomes. People across all ages were likely to be Very Concerned, but the elderly population was the least likely to report not being concerned at all.
• The presence of children under 18 in the home also correlated with higher concern, but even respondents without children still reported being worried.
• We saw no discernible differences between levels of concern among men and women.

Methods
Survey was fielded from March 4–6, 2020 and included responses from 1,951 adults across the country. Results have been weighted to be representative of the U.S. population.

View the full results on our web page.