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Health Institutions Still Rated Best for COVID-19 Response
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Health Institutions Still Rated Best for COVID-19 Response

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Story Highlights

  • Nine in 10 Americans approve of the job hospitals are doing
  • 89% of workers approve of the way employer is handling the crisis
  • Media still gets lowest rating, 41% approval
  • Congress, Trump see largest declines in approval handling the crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When it comes to handling the COVID-19 crisis, Americans continue to give their highest approval ratings to healthcare providers and medical experts. Most (78%) continue to approve of their state government's handling of the crisis, but Americans give much lower ratings on handling the crisis to nationally elected officials such as Congress (48%) and President Trump (49%). Of all the key actors responding to the crisis that Americans were asked about, the news media received the lowest approval (41%) of all.

Americans' Approval Ratings of Key Actors Handling the Response to COVID-19
Do you approve or disapprove of the way each of the following is handling the response to the coronavirus in the U.S.?
April approval March approval Change
% % pct. pts.
Hospitals in your local area 93 * *
U.S. hospitals 92 88 +4
Your employer^ 89 82 +7
Your child's school or daycare† 87 83 +4
Dr. Anthony Fauci 79 * *
Government health agencies 78 80 -2
Your state government 78 82 -4
New York governor, Andrew Cuomo 67 * *
Vice President Mike Pence 56 61 -5
President Donald Trump 50 60 -10
Congress 48 59 -11
The news media 41 44 -3
† Based on 263 parents of children under age 18 ^ Based on 594 employed adults * Not asked in March
Gallup

The April 14-28 poll also finds employed Americans expressing high (89%) approval of how their employer is handling the response to the COVID-19 crisis. This is notable as most employers have had to make extraordinary changes to the way they do business and their employees. Additionally, three in 10 Americans now report they have experienced pay reductions or job loss.

Nearly eight in 10 Americans also approve of their state government's handling of the crisis, a measure of confidence consistent with American's relative trust in having state officials, such as governors, make economic decisions or doing "the right thing for the economy."

Since ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½last asked Americans to rate leaders handling of the coronavirus situation in March, approval ratings for both President Trump (-10 points) and Congress (-11 points) have declined the most. Most interviews for this poll predate the backlash that ensued after the president suggested that injections of cleaning chemicals could fight the virus.

Deep Partisan Divide on Media

Americans' views of the leading medical institutions and officials responding to the coronavirus are largely devoid of partisanship. The media, on the other hand, shows stark and persistent differences, with 68% of Democrats approving of how it is handling the crisis versus 16% of Republicans. Forty-one percent of independents approve, placing them squarely between the two partisan groups.

Americans' Approval of Key Actors Handling the COVID-19 Response, by Political Affiliation
Do you approve or disapprove of the way each of the following is handling the response to the coronavirus in the U.S.?
All Americans Republicans Independents Democrats
% % % %
Hospitals in your local area 93 96 91 93
U.S. hospitals 92 93 91 92
Your employer 89 93 89 85
Your child's school or daycare 87 85 86 92
Dr. Anthony Fauci 79 71 79 88
Government health agencies 78 76 80 78
Your state government 78 71 77 85
New York governor, Andrew Cuomo 67 47 67 87
Vice President Mike Pence 56 91 56 21
President Donald Trump 50 91 50 11
Congress 48 40 51 53
The news media 41 16 41 68
Gallup, April 14-28, 2020

The 52 percentage-point gap in Republicans' and Democrats' approval of the media on the coronavirus nearly matched the 54-point party gap in trust in the news media, generally, from a September 2019 poll. There have long been partisan divides in media trust, but in recent years they have been larger than in the past. In fact, while most Americans (58%) and the vast majority of Republicans (84%) disapprove of the way the media is handling the crisis, most Democrats (68%) approve.

Despite a noticeable partisan divide on the performance of nationally elected officials in the crisis, most Republicans and Democrats currently applaud the performance by their state government and national public health institutions such as the CDC and NIH.

Bottom Line

The current rank order of leaders' job ratings for handling the coronavirus crisis is similar to what ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½found in March, only with approval of Trump and Congress sliding a significant amount.

As the coronavirus crisis continues to rattle American society on countless levels, the U.S. public still gives their highest approval ratings to healthcare providers, as well as national public health officials and state government at the forefront of managing the crisis -- and with little partisan disagreement. The news media continues to fare the worst, with nearly six in 10 Americans disapproving of the way they have handled the crisis.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

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