APRIL 24, 2020 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RECENT PROTESTS AGAINST STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS RUN COUNTER TO MAJORITY VIEW
About nine in ten Americans support stay-at-home and related social distancing policies
DENVER, CO – Protesters against government-issued stay-at-home/shelter-in-place policies represent a distinct minority. According to a new survey by ROI Rocket, a leading provider of market research-based consulting services, about 90% of Americans favor a stay-at-home policy of one sort or another. Of that number, about three in five (62%) support the active enforcement of such policies. Moreover, only half of the remaining 10% reject stay-at-home orders outright; the other 5% say they don’t know if these policies are necessary.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans or Independents to support the active enforcement of government-mandated stay-at-home policies. About three in four Democrats (75%) support this idea compared to only 46% of Republicans and 60% of Independents. But the percentage of partisans in favor of stay-at-home edicts, either enforced or voluntary, is similar: 94% of Democrats support the concept, along with 90% of Republicans and 88% of Independents.
In recent weeks, a number of leading think tanks and universities have issued plans for managing the COVID-19 pandemic that go beyond widespread stay-at-home policies. The ideas put forward in these plans include extensive contact tracing via mobile phone app and mass coronavirus testing. The ROI Rocket survey found that the most aggressive set of pandemic countermeasures acceptable to most Americans would consist of a one-time stay-at-home order of indefinite/flexible duration, plus voluntary contact tracing and testing among those without symptoms, and mandatory tracing and testing among suspected and confirmed cases. This combination of measures is supported by about three in four Americans (74%).
Support for this set of anti-pandemic policies transcends regional and political differences. Regionally, support varies only slightly-from about 73% to 75%. Differences in support based on political party are similarly narrow. About 76% of Democrats favor this combination of voluntary and mandatory measures compared to 73% of Independents and 72% of Republications. None of these differences are statistically significant.
Still, most Americans are cautious about ceding too much control to the government. Only about one in three (31%) would support a ‘worst-case’ policy scenario in which the federal government imposed a one-time stay-at-home order of indefinite duration, along with mandatory contact tracing and regular testing for everyone. The message most Americans apparently want to get across here is not unlike the Hippocratic Oath: first, do no harm.
ABOUT THIS RESEARCH
This study of 1,002 U.S. residents aged 18 and older was fielded between April 14 and April 19, 2020. The results have an associated margin of error of +/- 3.1% at the 95% confidence level in the most conservative case. This means the results come within plus or minus 3.1% of the results that would have been obtained given a census of all qualified individuals. Sample collection was balanced to U.S. Census figures for gender, age, race/ethnicity and household income.
The study is projected to run for another twelve (12) weeks and include separate, supplemental studies of business leaders and healthcare professionals. Press releases will be issued periodically for these studies as warranted by the results.
ABOUT ROI ROCKET
Founded in 2007, ROI Rocket is a leading provider of full-service market research, marketing and sales automation, and digital agency support with offices in Denver, CO, Vancouver, WA, and Jacksonville, FL.
PRESS CONTACTS
For additional information about this study, please contact David McGrath, CEO (david.mcgrath@roirocket.com) or Libby Perkins, General Counsel (libby.perkins@roirocket.com).