It is now been more than a year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first known case of COVID-19 in the U.S. And a lot has changed since then. There is a vaccine rollout and a new president to lead America through the pandemic. And less than a month after he assumed office, many more Americans approve of President Biden’s handling of the pandemic than former President Donald Trump’s.
But as you can see below, how well Americans think the president is doing still falls along partisan lines. Democrats largely approve of Biden’s response; Republicans do not. Independents fall somewhere in between. Biden does seem to be starting with a rosier outlook among independents and members of the other party than Trump ever did, however.
And at this point, Americans remain very concerned about infection. No major event — whether it’s over 300,000 Americans dying due to complications from COVID-19 in 2020 or the beginnings of a vaccine rollout in December — has caused a substantial shift in the country’s fears of infection. Considering that nearly 30 percent of the country has been infected with the novel coronavirus in the past year, it makes sense that many Americans still worry about infection.
Concern about the economy remains high, although it has ticked down from its peak in March 2020, when 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment — five times the previous record.