(Fargo, ND) – Majority of Americans continue to support Masks required for plane passengers and other shared transports, a new poll shows. Judgment of a federal judge has halted government transportation mask duty.
Poll of Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that although objections to the request included verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants, 56% of Americans supported requiring people on planes, trains, and transportation The public must wear masks, compared with 24% who oppose and 20% say they do not. neither support nor oppose.
Interviews for the poll were conducted Thursday through Monday, shortly before a federal judge in Florida overturned the national mask regulation for airplanes and public transit. Airlines and Airports Instantly remove their request passengers wear face coverings.
The Transportation Security Administration has stopped enforcing the mask requirement, and the Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it will not appeal the ruling unless the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines it is still necessary.
The poll shows wide partisan divides on the issue. Among Democrats, 80% support and only 5% oppose the request. Among Republicans, 45% oppose compared with 33% in favor, with 22% not saying.
Vicki Pettus, who recently moved from Frankfort, Kentucky, to Clearwater, Florida, to be close to her grandchildren, said she liked the view of Old Tampa Bay but disliked Governor Ron DeSantis’ “very unconfident attitude,” a member of the Republican Party. , about wearing a mask. She said she will continue to wear her mask to protect against the coronavirus, including around the community 55 and older at her home and on the plane when she arrives in Kentucky in a few weeks.
“Especially in an airplane where that air is recirculating,” said Pettus, 71, a Democratic-leaning independent. “I think people are really stupid not to wear their masks. However, it’s their decision, and if they want to get well, fine. I don’t plan to.”
But Kriste Lee, who works in sales in South Florida, can’t wait to fly maskless on her next travel trip next month.
“I really wish I was on the plane when they made that announcement,” said Lee, 47. “I jumped up and down the aisle.”
In general, continued American support for the mandatory wearing of masks in transportation even as worried about COVID-19 is one of their lowest scores in the past two years. Only 20% now say they are very or extremely worried that they or a family member will get infected. This is down slightly because 25% said the same just a month ago and from 36% in December and January when omicron variant raged. Another 33% say they’re somewhat nervous, while 48% say they’re not worried at all.
Count Betty Harp, of Leitchfield, Kentucky, is among those who are “very worried” not that she will turn 84 next month. She says she takes care of her home and large yard on her own, does a lot of canning and is in “excellent health for my age.” But she’s lost a lot of friends and family to the virus, killed nearly 1 million people in U.S.A.
“I know COVID is still here. It’s still around,” said Harp, who describes himself as a Republican-leaning independent. “I think we should all wear masks for a while longer.”
In another AP-NORC poll was conducted last month44% of Americans still say they regularly or always wear a mask outside of their home, although that’s down significantly from 65% who said at the start of the year.
The latest poll also shows that about half of Americans support the requirement that masks be worn by workers in public, compared with about three in 10 who oppose. Similar support for requiring people at crowded public events such as concerts, sporting events and movies to wear masks.
Above these, too, there are significant partisan divisions. 72% of Democrats are in favor of requiring people attending large public events to wear masks, while of Republicans, 25% are in favor and 49% are against. The numbers are similar for mask requirements for those working in public.
Lee, who says she doesn’t “do politics”, wonders out loud why people are complaining about the judge’s ruling and says no one is stopping anyone from wearing a mask if they want to.
“We all have clearly different beliefs and opinions,” said Lee, who has not been vaccinated. “Mine is definitely different from angry and upset people.”
Working Americans are divided over whether people who work directly in their workplaces are required to wear masks. Thirty-four percent say they support the request, 33% oppose and 33% neither support nor oppose. Among working-class Democrats, 48% support and 18% oppose. Among working-class Republicans, 53% oppose and 18% support.
Mike Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said masking would be more effective if it was required. Respirator N95 or KN95more effective in preventing virus transmission.
“But you’ve really created a real challenge for yourself with the public that is currently sifting through if not completely furious about these mandates,” said Osterholm, who added that he would continue to wear his N95 mask on the plane.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,085 adults was conducted April 14-18 using a sample from the NORC probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to be representative of the population. USA. The sampling margin of error for all respondents was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
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