Nearly one-third of Americans say COVID poses at least a moderate risk to their health, an uptick of 5 points from two months ago, but they equate the risks to that of the flu and other respiratory illnesses, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll released Thursday.
The survey comes amid an uptick of COVID infections in more than two dozen states.
According to the poll, 32% say COVID poses a moderate to large risk to their health, compared to 27% in early June. Thursday's numbers match almost exactly how those surveyed rate the risk of contracting RSV or the flu (33%), the survey said.
Further, 52% say they believe the pandemic is over, with just 3% calling COVID the No. 1 health threat now. To that end, 13% say they wear a mask in public all the time or sometimes, down 1 point from June, according to the survey.
"Americans are willing to concede COVID might pose a slightly higher risk to their health, but that's as far as they're going to go," Ipsos vice president Mallory Newall said in the analysis. "The current isolation and treatment guidance treats it like seasonal flu, and people are content to agree."
One in five American says opioids and fentanyl are the No. 1 health risk and 19% say obesity.
"Opioids and obesity continue to captivate the public when we look at the threats that we see," Newall said. "Even though there's a drop [in opioids' ranking as the No. 1 health threat] there's widespread and strong support to act, to stop the use that's leading to overdoses and deaths."
The Axios-Ipsos American Health Study surveyed 1,063 adults from Aug. 16-19. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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