Fewer Americans worried a family member will be infected with coronavirus: poll

Fewer Americans said they are worried a family member will be infected with the coronavirus, according to a new poll. 

Forty-two percent of Americans said they are “very concerned” about someone in their family becoming seriously ill with the coronavirus, an 8-point decrease from the 50 percent who said the same last month, according to a Monmouth University poll released Monday. 

Despite the decrease in reported level of concern, more Americans said they knew someone who has had the virus, according to the poll. Forty percent of Americans said they knew someone who had the virus, up from 26 percent last month. 

The poll also found that about half of the public said they are confident the country will be able to limit the outbreak over the next few weeks, including 16 percent who said they are “very confident” and 34 percent who are “somewhat confident.”

An additional 25 percent said they are “not too confident,” and 25 percent are “not at all confident” that the pandemic will be under control soon, according to the poll. 

The virus has infected 1.3 million people in the U.S. and killed 79,606, based on data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

The Monmouth University poll was conducted from April 30 to May 4 with 808 adults. There is a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.