NEW YORK—As coronavirus cases increase across the United States, 70 percent of Americans say the COVID-19 outbreak poses a major threat to the U.S. economy and 47 percent say it is a major threat to overall health across the nation, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

But, so far, Americans are less concerned about how the new coronavirus is affecting their health, finances and local communities. Only 27 percent said in their responses that the coronavirus is a major threat to their personal health, while 51 percent said it is a minor threat, and only 22 percent said the coronavirus does not threaten their personal health, according to the findings of the Pew Research Center survey, as noted here

“Underscoring the rapidly changing nature of this crisis, the shares of Americans who say the COVID-19 outbreak is a major threat to the economy and other aspects of life increased substantially over the past week,” the Pew report noted. “For example, in interviews conducted March 10-11, 42 percent of the public said the coronavirus was a major threat to the health of the U.S. population; in interviews conducted March 14-16, 55 percent say it is a major threat to the nation’s overall health.”

The national survey by Pew Research Center—conducted March 10-16 among 8,914 adults using the Center’s American Trends Panel—found widespread public confidence that public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local government officials are doing a good job in responding to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the report.

More than eight-in-ten (83 percent) said they are very or somewhat confident that CDC officials are doing a good job, including 40 percent who said they are very confident. Most (73 percent) also said they are confident in state and local government officials.

According to the Pew report, the public is less confident in how President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are responding to the crisis. Fewer than half are very or somewhat confident that Trump (45 percent) and Pence (48 percent) are doing a good job responding to the crisis.

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