Two years after "15 days to slow the spread," the COVID-19 pandemic finally appears to be winding down. Americans are returning to public events in droves, most states are lifting mask and vaccine mandates, and polls show a majority are ready to return to normal life. "Overall, across America about 63-percent say yes, I'm ready to get back out there," says Lisa W. Miller, consumer marketing expert who regularly tracks public sentiment for a series called The Journey Back to Joy.
While attitudes toward the pandemic are shifting away from fear, there remains a notable partisan divide. "There are still 27-percent who are either anxious or very anxious," says Miller. "Those who are more Democrat are three times more likely to be very anxious than those who are more Republican."
Further highlighting the partisan divide, Miller's data shows 79% of Democrats still wear masks every time they go out, while 73% of Republicans believe its time to "get back to living our lives."
Miller believes public sentiment and the resumption of events like the Rodeo will define our so-called 'return to normal.'
"We need to remind people of why they fell in love with going to the Rodeo, and things like that," she says. "It's not so much about coming back, it's about reintroducing things."
"COVID isn't going to have a scientific or epidemiological ending, it's really going to be a social ending," she continues. "What that means is that when joy overcomes fear, that's when we'll actually see the social ending of the pandemic."
That leads us to the poll question today.