According to the dozens of questions CivicScience tracks regarding coronavirus-related sentiment, personal habits, and intent among consumers, the most recent numbers (data from the week of 7/26) show a continued lessening of comfort doing most things. As coronavirus cases continue to rise across the United States, this comes as no surprise.
Grave concern (those who report they are very concerned) about being in public spaces remains just as high as the last report. We did observe a shift in people reporting they’re not at all concerned – this group went down, swapping places with the percentage of those who indicate they are somewhat concerned. Eighty-four percent of Americans show some level of concern about being in public.
According to the recent data, this is backed up as only about one-fifth of U.S. adults report they have resumed normal activities after they were able to do so and still are, while about one-tenth have since taken a step back. However, most Americans say they never really resumed normal activities to begin with (63%). This data is consistent with what we’ve observed over the last two weeks.
Travel
One area that continues on a dark, downward trajectory is consumer’s current comfort level with traveling and/or taking a vacation. Those who report they won’t feel good about doing so for 6 or more months continues to rise. Last week’s numbers also show a slight decline in the group who is comfortable with traveling right now. The group comfortable with traveling now reached a high point in early to mid June but has not since recovered.
This is further evidenced when surveying adults on their upcoming travel plans for the next month. A mere 4% of Americans polled plan to travel via airline, and 28% via car / other transportation option. However, again, the vast majority (66%) have no travel plans in the month ahead.
Back to the office
There was a noticeable decrease in the comfort level of returning to work among Americans employed pre-pandemic.
Waning comfort in returning to the office, where you come into contact with people outside of your household or quarantine pod, could have to do with the continued rise in Americans who know someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
While none of this data is shocking and much of it looking quite grim, the data do show that a large portion of Americans are trying to remain in place. While that’s not good for most industries, it will hopefully be good for case numbers.
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