Poll: More than 70 percent of Americans support coronavirus stay-at-home orders

An overwhelming majority of Americans say that stay-at-home orders issued throughout the U.S. in response to the coronavirus outbreak should remain in place until health experts say it is safe to reopen, according to a new poll.

The Reuters-Ipsos survey released Tuesday found that 72 percent of Americans support quarantine measures remaining in effect until “doctors and public health officials say it is safe.” That includes 55 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents.

The findings come as protestors gather in various state capitals to voice opposition to social-distancing requirements and as President Trump pushes more aggressively for states to begin opening up portions of their economy.

Health officials have insisted that the U.S. needs widespread testing availability and a comprehensive contact-tracing program in place to safely reopen. Some have also warned that reopening too quickly could help the disease spread further.

While the survey showed that a vast majority of Americans support stay-at-home orders, it also indicated that Republicans are becoming more supportive of the push to reopen businesses.

Forty-five percent of GOP respondents said they wanted states to nullify social-distancing restrictions to allow the economy to reopen, a 21-point jump from a similar survey conducted at the end of March.

The U.S. has reported more than 823,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and roughly 44,800 deaths stemming from it. The outbreak led governors in dozens of states to implement stringent stay-at-home orders that led to the shuttering of thousands of non-essential businesses.

More than 20 million people have filed for unemployment claims amid the outbreak. 

The Trump administration last week issued guidelines that said states could begin reopening once they experienced a decline in documented COVID-19 cases over a period of 14 days. And in recent days, some states have announced plans to open parks and beaches.

Nearly 60 percent of Americans say they more concerned about states loosening stay-at-home orders too quickly, according to a NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released on Sunday.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online April 15-21 among a population of 4,429 American adults. The poll has a margin of error of 6 percent.