Fewer Americans cite COVID-19 as worst problem in US: Gallup

The number of Americans who say that the COVID-19 pandemic is the most pressing issue facing the U.S. is dropping, though it still remains the most commonly-cited issue by respondents in a new Gallup poll.

In the poll, released Wednesday, about 1 in 5 Americans (20 percent) said that COVID-19 was the “most important problem” facing the U.S., down from 25 percent in the same poll taken in March.

The decreasing number of those surveyed citing COVID-19 as the most pressing issue trend has now happened for two months in a row and is much lower than the number of Americans who listed the COVID-19 pandemic as the most important problem facing the U.S. last April, when that number reached an all-time high of 45 percent.

April’s numbers tied the number recorded in June of 2020 for the lowest recorded levels of concern about the pandemic, indicating that Americans are now less concerned about the virus than at almost any other time since it began.

The latest poll comes as 200 million Americans have received at least one vaccination dose, a number double what President Biden had pledged to achieve within his first 100 days upon taking office. Biden will address a joint session of Congress to mark his first 100 days in office this evening.

Gallup’s poll was conducted April 1-21 among 961 adults living in the U.S. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.