Some 78% of New Yorkers think about protecting themselves and their family from getting COVID-19 every day, according to a poll released Thursday, while the number of residents who think the worst of the pandemic is over has dropped sharply since June.
Each day, 35% of New Yorkers think all of the time about protecting themselves and their family from getting COVID-19, while 43% think about it some of the time, according to the statewide survey of residents by the Siena College Research Institute.
The number who think the worst of the pandemic is over has dropped from 68% in June to 50% today, the poll found. That slide in optimism comes as the delta variant spreads, and COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths have grown since mid-July.
But conversely, the poll also found that most people are now comfortable going to places, including grocery stores and Broadway plays.
It found that 91% are at least somewhat or very comfortable going to the grocery store, 73% eating inside at a local restaurant; 61% going to work at the job they had before COVID-19; 57% going to a movie; 52% attending a professional sporting event, and 51% attending a Broadway show.
“COVID concerns and decisions rest on shoulders and weigh on our minds every day,” said Don Levy, director of the institute.
“While nearly everyone is comfortable going to the grocery store, over three-quarters think about protecting their family from getting sick some of the time, and over 40 percent think about it all the time,” he added. “Almost no one leaves home without a mask, and four out of every 10 of us have had disagreements with family and friends about COVID-related issues.”
He said that while 77% of the respondents reported they were vaccinated, more than a third — 36% — still think the worst of the pandemic is still to come.
The poll was conducted Sept. 29-Oct. 7 by random telephone calls to 394 New York adults via landline and cellphones, along with 403 responses drawn from a proprietary online panel of New Yorkers.
The margin of error was plus 3.8 percentage points.
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