The majority of Americans are taking action to avoid contracting coronavirus, a new YouGov survey has found.
Adults in the US say that they are ‘improving personal hygiene’, avoiding crowded places and refraining from touching as many objects in public as possible.
Health officials have encouraged hands, avoiding crowded places for older people but have discouraged people wearing masks, saying that they won’t do anything to stop the virus from spread.
One-third of Americans said they are not confident that federal and state health agencies could respond to an outbreak of the virus in the US.
As of Tuesday, there are more than 100 confirmed cases across the nation and seven deaths – all in Washington state.
Most Americans say they are taking preventative measures such as 42% of people improving personal hygiene habits and 27% of people avoiding crowded places
One-third of adults say they are very or somewhat scared of contracting coronavirus, which has sickened more than 100 and killed seven, all in Washington state
Patients infected by coronavirus wait to be transferred from Wuhan No.5 Hospital to Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built hospital for the patients on March 3
Medical staff in Wuhan, China prepare to transfer patients infected by coronavirus to Leishenshan Hospital on March 5
For the survey, YouGov interviewed 1,000 US adults aged 18 and over between February 28 and March 2.
Surveyors asked the participants questions regarding how aware they are of coronavirus, how they are personally responding to the disease and if they believe the government is doing enough.
Results showed that one in three Americans say they are very or somewhat scared of contracting coronavirus, known officially as COVID-19.
Therefore, most say they are taking measures to avoid being infected with the highly-contagious disease.
The most common response was improving personal hygiene habits, such as washing hands frequently, which 42 percent said they were doing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest scrubbing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
Worldwide, more than 92,000 people have been infected and more than 3,100 people have died
About 27 percent said they are avoiding crowded public places like malls, 24 percent said they are trying not to touch objects in public and about one in five people said they are avoiding contact with tourists.
Nearly 10 percent of respondents said they wear a face mask when visiting public spaces.
However, the CDC say only people who are showing symptoms should wear masks and that the protective gear won’t do anything for healthy people.
Even the US Surgeon General, Dr Jerome Adams, pleaded with the public to stop buying surgical masks.
‘Seriously people – STOP BUYING MASKS!’ he tweeted on Sunday.
‘They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!’
When it came to people’s opinions of the federal response, nearly half said the government is handling coronavirus in the US very or somewhat well while more than one-third said the Trump administration was handling it badly.
Medical personnel attend to a patient in critical condition at a hospital designated for coronavirus patients in Wuhan, March 1
South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear, spray antiseptic solution against the coronavirus in Guryong slum on March 3
About 44% said the government is handling coronavirus in the US well while 38% said the Trump administration is handling it badly
One in three said they are not confident the government could handle an outbreak in the US. Pictured: Shoppers at a Costco in Los Angeles stockpile essentials as coronavirus spreads across the US, February 29
Opinions on the topic were partisan with 67 percent of Democrats saying the government handling of coronavirus is going badly and only around 20 percent saying it’s going well.
On the other hand, 76 percent of Republicans say the government has been handling the issue well and only 11 percent say it’s going badly.
However, most Americans – 56 percent – say they have confidence that health officials can effectively respond to a US outbreak.
Answers were more evenly split on the question of whether people felt they had enough information about the virus.
About 45 percent of people responded ‘yes’ and around 40 percent said ‘no.’
Worldwide, more than 92,000 people have been infected with coronavirus and more than 3,100 people have died.