More than two-thirds of Americans approve President Joe Biden’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to an ABC News / Ipsos poll released on Sunday.
The survey found that 68 percent of Americans support Biden’s COVID-19 response, including 98 percent of Democrats, 35 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of independents.
Biden’s approval rating for managing the COVID-19 pandemic has been consistent since he took office in January. According to an ABC News / Ipsos poll conducted January 22-23, 69% of Americans support Biden’s COVID-19 response, including 97% of Democrats, 40% of Republicans and 70% of independents.
By comparison, the highest approval rating that former President Donald Trump received for his treatment of the pandemic was in mid-March 2020, when 55% of Americans approved his response.
The new survey was carried out from March 5 to 6 and randomly sampled 521 adults. The results have a margin of error of 4.8 points.
Photo by Samuel Corum / Getty Images / Getty Images
Biden promised to make combating the pandemic the focus of his presidency. During his first day in office on January 20, he signed an executive order that enacted a face mask mandate and social distance requirements in federal buildings and federal land.
The Biden government also hopes to work with Congress to approve its $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan. The plan was approved by the Senate on Saturday and is now on its way to the House of Representatives for approval.
The legislation included stimulus payments of $ 1,400 for individuals earning less than $ 75,000 a year, an increase in child tax credit and direct funding for state and local governments, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars for reopening schools, aid small businesses and coronavirus vaccine launches.
While Biden works to boost the federal response to COVID-19, some states, including Texas and Mississippi, have reversed restrictions on coronavirus, such as removing mask mandates and reducing capacity limits for companies.
Health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned against reopening too early.
“I would advise the people of Texas and Mississippi to only comply with the public health measures that we talk about all the time: uniform use of masks, physical distance, avoiding congregational environments, especially indoors, washing hands often, we only have to keep doing it because we know it works, “said Fauci during an appearance on Thursday on MSNBC.
According to Sunday’s ABC News / Ipsos poll, most Americans think the loosening of mask mandates and COVID-19 restrictions at public meetings are happening very fast, 56% and 50% respectively.
Newsweek contacted the White House, but got no response in time for publication.