About five years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic, a new YouGov survey asked Americans about their experiences of the pandemic and for their thoughts on whether the U.S. government is doing enough to prepare for the next one.
51% of Americans believe COVID-19 is no longer a pandemic. 21% think it is still a pandemic but will eventually stop being one sometime in the future and 19% think it is a pandemic that will never end.
Republicans (61%) are more likely than Independents (53%) and Democrats (39%) to say COVID-19 is no longer a pandemic.
Around half (48%) of Americans say they definitely (36%) or probably (13%) contracted COVID-19 at some point since the pandemic began. 43% say they definitely (31%) or probably (12%) did not contract it.
24% of Americans think they’ve been infected with COVID-19 once, 22% think they’ve had it between two and five times, and 11% are not sure.
Among people who say they definitely contracted COVID-19, 46% say they think they’ve only been infected once. 34% say they think they’ve had it twice, and 18% think they’ve had it three or more times.
Among people who believe they’ve had COVID-19, only 13% describe their worst COVID-19 infection as severe. 48% say their worst case of COVID-19 was moderate, and 38% say their worst case was mild.
60% of Americans who do not believe they’ve ever had COVID-19 say they don’t think they will eventually get it; only 5% of this group believe they will.
About three-quarters of Americans (74%) say the COVID-19 pandemic affected at least a few of their major life decisions. 27% say it affected a few of their major life decisions, 27% say it affected some of them, 14% say it affected many of them, and 6% say it affected most of them.
Democrats (80%) are more likely than Independents (74%) andRepublicans (68%) to say the pandemic affected at least a few of their major life decisions.
The most common COVID-19-related experiences among Americans, of the options included on the survey, are changes in travel habits (51% say they experienced this as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic) and the inability to attend important life events (50%). 37% say the pandemic caused changes in their hobbies or personal interests, 36% say it caused changes in relationships with family or friends, and 32% say they experienced the death of a friend or family member due to COVID-19.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they’ve had many of these experiences as a result of the pandemic. Among the biggest gaps: 46% of Democrats and 28% of Republicans say the COVID-19 pandemic caused changes to their hobbies or interests., and 60% of Democrats and 44% of Republicans say it caused changes in their travel habits.
Adults under 30 are more likely than older Americans to say they experienced disruptions to education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (50% vs. 17%). Younger adults are also more likely to say they have experienced mental health challenges as a result of the pandemic (38% vs. 28%).
Five years later, how do Americans feel about some of the restrictions put in place in the early days of the pandemic? Looking back, 71% think mandating work from home where possible was the right decision and 70% say the same about requiring people to social distance. 68% think requiring people to wear masks indoors in public was the right decision and 65% think providing direct stimulus payments to citizens was the right choice. Most (60%) think closing schools and switching to remote learning was the right decision. About half (47%) think closing nonessential businesses was the right decision; 34% say it was the wrong decision.
The share of Americans who think closing schools and switching to remote learning was the right decision has increased in the last year, to 60% from 51% in March 2024. The share who say closing nonessential businesses was the right decision also has increased, to 47% from 40%.
For each of the six restrictions asked about, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say it was the right choice. The largest gaps between the two groups are on the topics of closing nonessential businesses (73% of Democrats and 29% of Republicans think this was the right choice) and requiring people to wear masks indoors in public (89% vs. 46%).
Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to believe that face masks are somewhat or very effective at preventing the people who wear them from becoming infected by COVID-19 (92% vs. 44%).
Other beliefs about the COVID-19 pandemic that demonstrate partisan divides: 80% of Republicans and 47% of Democrats say it’s definitely or probably true that a laboratory in China was the origin of the virus. 66% of Republicans and 26% of Democrats think it’s definitely or probably true that the virus responsible for COVID-19 was released on purpose. 35% of Republicans and 59% of Democrats have at least a fair amount of trust in what the U.S. government says about the origins of COVID-19.
Among Americans overall, 7% have a great deal of trust in what the U.S. government says about the origins of COVID-19, 36% have a fair amount of trust, 40% don’t have very much trust, and 17% have no trust at all.
40% of Americans approve of Joe Biden’s handling of COVID-19 when he was president; 37% disapprove. That's better than attitudes about Donald Trump's handling of COVID-19 as president: 33% approve and 43% disapprove.
Americans are slightly more likely to say they would trust the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party to handle a pandemic should one occur in the future than to say they would trust the Republican Party more (37% vs. 31%). 20% say there’s no difference.
50% of Americans think the U.S. should do more to prepare for future pandemics, beyond COVID-19, up from 35% in June 2024. 23% think the country is doing about the right amount; just 4% think the U.S. should be doing less. Democrats (71%) are more likely than Republicans (31%) to say the U.S. should do more.
If another serious pandemic occurs in the future, 58% of Americans would favor requiring face masks. 83% of Democrats and 33% of Republicans would favor this.
Majorities would also favor prohibiting large indoor events (55%) and remote schooling (55%, up from 46% who said this in August 2022). 54% would favor banning foreign travel and 43% would favor requiring vaccinations. Democrats (71%) are more likely than Republicans (24%) to favor requiring vaccinations.
Related:
- Which conspiracy theories do Americans believe?
- Views on COVID-19 and vaccines remain divided by party
- One in four Americans say there is currently a COVID-19 pandemic
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted March 3 - 5, 2025 among 1,134 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Leon Neal / Staff)
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