Majority of Coloradans think businesses should stay closed until more coronavirus testing available, new survey finds
A majority of Coloradans believe businesses should stay closed until there is more testing available for the new coronavirus, even as nearly half reported that they have lost jobs or income due to the global pandemic.
These results are among the highlights released Monday of a new survey of 1,000 adult Colorado residents, gauging attitudes and opinions on a wide range of questions related to the COVID-19 crisis.
The survey, commissioned by Healthier Colorado and The Colorado Health Foundation and conducted by the Colorado-based polling firm Magellan Strategies, included telephone and online surveys from April 15 to April 21.
The poll found 43% of Coloradans feel the worst of the coronavirus is yet to come, including 55% of African Americans. Communities of color have been disproportionally impacted by COVID-19, both in Colorado and the rest of the country, data has shown.
The survey’s release comes on the same day the state’s new “safer-at-home” plan went into effect, and the results showed 64% of respondents said they preferred a policy aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus until more widespread testing becomes available, “even if that meant many businesses will have to stay closed.”
Just 29% of people polled supported easing measures aimed at slowing the virus’ spread in order to get the economy going — even if it meant more people would get the illness.
Denver and most metro counties opted at the end of last week to extend their stay-at-home orders until May 8 at the earliest. Some counties with lower COVID-19 counts, including Mesa and Eagle counties, have petitioned the state to let them ease restrictions on gatherings and open more businesses.
A majority (57%) of respondents rated the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as extremely or very trustworthy in providing accurate information about the new coronavirus, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (55%) and Gov. Jared Polis (50%) also received higher marks. President Donald Trump (29%) and the news media (20%) received low grades for their trustworthiness related to the virus.
Coloradans also put far more trust in the state government to lead it through this crisis, with 56% saying states should take the lead, and 35% saying the federal government should be at the helm.
Other noteworthy takeaways from the survey include:
- 47% of Coloradans say they or someone in their household has lost their job (16%), lost income (18%) or had their paid hours reduced (13%) as a result of the novel coronavirus
- 57% said they were either very concerned (27%) or somewhat concerned (30%) that they or someone in their household would lose their job, income or paid hours in the next six months
- 43% of respondents said the coronavirus has made their financial situation worse while 50% said their financial situation is the same as it was before
The margin of error for the survey was 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval, Magellan Strategies said, It included an oversampling of African American, and the response data was weighted to reflect the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 estimated demographics of Colorado’s adult population, according to the polling firm.
The full survey results will be released Thursday and will be available for download at healthiercolorado.org.