Americans’ concerns about hospital capacity dip: poll

Americans’ concerns about the capacity of hospitals dipped in a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

The percentage of Americans very or moderately worried about the availability of “hospital supplies, services and treatment” in their area dropped to 58 percent in this week’s poll. The previous week, the percentage was at 64 percent.

Now, the number of respondents worried about hospital capacity is about equal to the 59 percent very or moderately concerned about the availability of coronavirus tests. This number remained within the margin of error from last week’s poll.

The drop in concern about hospital capacity comes as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) reported on April 19, the last day of the poll, that the hot spot state’s hospitalization rates are decreasing. 

A total of 27 percent of Republicans in the Gallup poll reported concern about the hospital capacities, 10 percentage points lower than last poll. Independents said they were worried about hospital capacity at a rate of 56 percent — a 9 percentage point drop.

Democrats worried more, reporting concern at a rate of 82 percent, with the numbers remaining steady from the previous poll.

Younger Americans aged 18 to 29 recorded an 11 percentage point drop in concern over the hospitalization capacity, down to 72 percent from 83 percent in last week’s poll.

Similarly, 57 percent of those with an income less than $36,000 said they were very or moderately concerned about hospital capacities — also 11 percentage points lower than the previous poll.

Seven percentage point decreases were documented among women, people aged 30 to 49, people without a college degree, and people living in the suburbs, a small town or a rural area.

Gallup’s poll surveyed 8,106 adults older than 18 between April 13-19. The margin of error was 2 percentage points. Gallup noted that more than half of the respondents answered before the protests erupted across the country against stay-at-home orders.