AP-NORC poll – Daily Local

Dave Cap

FARGO, ND (AP) – Most people in the United States still support the mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other public transportation, the poll shows. A federal judge’s ruling has postponed the government’s mandate for transport masks.

A poll by the Associated Press-NORC’s Public Relations Research Center shows that despite opposition to this requirement, which included verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants, 56% of respondents are in favor of people on planes. trains and public transport were in masks, compared to 24% against and 20% saying they were neither for nor against.

Interviews for the poll were conducted last Thursday to Monday, shortly before a federal judge in Florida revoked the mandate of the national mask on airplanes and public transportation. Airlines and airports immediately waived their requirements that passengers be required to wear masks, and the Transportation Security Administration suspended compliance with the mask requirements.

But the justice ministry said Wednesday it is filing an appeal to overturn the judge’s ruling. The announcement came minutes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked justice to appeal the decision, saying “a parade that requires camouflage in a closed transportation corridor remains necessary for health care.”

The poll reveals widespread disagreement on the issue. Among Democrats, 80% oppose and only 5% oppose the demand. Among Republicans against 45% against 33% for, and 22% said neither.

Vicki Pettus, who recently moved from Frankfort, Kentucky, to Clearwater, Florida, to be with her grandchildren, said she likes the view of Old Tampa Bay, but she doesn’t like Governor Ron DeSantis’s “very caring attitude.” Republican, about camouflage. She said she will continue to wear a mask to protect herself from the coronavirus, including around her 55-year-old home community and on a plane when she travels to Kentucky in a few weeks.

“Especially on a plane where the air is recirculated,” said Pettus, 71, a pro-Democratic MP. “I think people are really stupid if they don’t wear a mask. But, hey, it’s their decision, and if they want to get sick, that’s okay. I’m not going. “

But Christie Lee, who works in the South Florida sales department, can’t wait to fly without a mask the next time she goes next month.

“I would love to be on a plane when they made that announcement,” Lee, 47, said. “I would dance along and down the aisle.”

Ongoing public support for generally mandatory masks in transport comes even at a time when concerns about COVID-19 are one of the lowest in two years. Only 20% now say they are very, very concerned that they or a family member will be infected. This is slightly less when 25% said the same thing just a month ago and with 36% in December and January when the Omicron option raged. Another 33% now say they are somewhat concerned, and 48% say they are not worried at all.

Earl Betty Harp of Leitchfield, Kentucky, is among the “very concerned” and not because she will turn 84 next month. She said she takes care of her big house and yard herself, does a lot of conservation and is in “fantastic health for my age”. But she lost many friends and family because of a virus that killed nearly 1 million people in the United States.

“I know COVID is still here. It’s still close, “said Harp, who called herself an independent independent Republican party. “I think we should all wear masks for a while longer.”

In another AP-NORC poll last month, 44% of respondents still said they often or always wear masks outside the home, though that’s much less than the 65% who said earlier in the year.

The latest poll also shows that about half of people are in favor of demanding masks for workers who interact with the public, compared to about 3 out of 10 against. Support is similar to the fact that people at crowded public events such as concerts, sporting events and movies require wearing masks.

There are also significant guerrilla divisions on them. Seventy-two percent of Democrats are in favor of people attending mass rallies wearing masks, while 25% of Republicans are in favor and 49% are against. Similar figures for the requirements of masks for public workers.

Lee, who said she was “not involved in politics”, wondered aloud why people were complaining about the judge’s ruling, and said no one prevented anyone from wearing masks if they wanted to.

“We all have our own beliefs and obviously different views,” said Lee, who is not vaccinated. “My definitely different from people who are angry and upset.”

Workers were divided on whether it is necessary to wear masks to those who work in person at their workplaces. Thirty-four percent say they are in favor of the demand, 33% are against, and 33% are neither for nor against. Among the Labor Democrats, 48% are in favor, 18% are against. Among Republican workers, 53% are against and 18% are in favor.

Mike Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said exchanging messages about mask mandates would be more effective if N95 or KN95 respirators were required, which are more effective in preventing virus transmission.

“But you have actually created a real problem with the public, which is now being elected, if not outraged by these mandates,” said Osterholm, who added that he would continue to wear the N95 mask in airplanes.

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The AP-NORC survey of 1,085 adults was conducted April 14-18 using a sample taken from the AmeriSpeak panel, based on the NORC probability, which is designed to represent the U.S. population. The tolerance of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.