A recent survey shows a majority of Americans are not satisfied with the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Rabat – Hundreds of Americans recently rallied in different states to express dissatisfaction with the COVID-19 lockdown measures that have slowed the country’s economy and left approximately 22 million people jobless.
While governors in the US advocate stay-at-home orders to limit the spread of the virus, hundreds of people desperate for normal life rallied in the northeastern state of New Hampshire and the south-central state of Texas.
Al Jazeera reported that 400 people protested the lockdown in New Hampshire, while around 250 people rallied in Austin, Texas to condemn the stay-at-home orders.
The protests happened as COVID-19 cases in the US, the epicenter of the pandemic, continue to increase.
The US has confirmed more than 740,000 cases and 39,158 fatalities to date.
Around 66,676 patients have recovered in the US, but the daily number of infections is on the rise.
Photos of the protests show some wearing protective masks while others leave their faces exposed while disrespecting social distancing measures.
The protesters’ demands echo President Donald Trump’s call to warm up the economy in the coming weeks.
On April 16, Trump announced his “Opening Up America Again” plan to reopen the US economy. In Trump’s plan, the US will open in three phases to gradually ease the nationwide lockdowns. At first, only particular states will reopen while others remain closed.
“America wants to be open and Americans want to be open,” he said during the announcement, insisting that “a national shutdown is not a sustainable long-term solution.”
Despite Trump’s plans and the protests in New Hampshire and Texas, the majority of Americans do not expect the COVID-19 crisis to end soon.
A survey from the Pew Research Center published on April 16 shows 73% of US adults believe “the worst is still to come” in the country’s fight against the pandemic.
Around twice as many Americans say “their greater concern is that state governments will lift restrictions on public activity too quickly (66%) as say it will not happen quickly enough (32%),” the survey finds.
The research center also highlighted how Trump’s response to the crisis is widely criticized.
“Nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) say Trump was too slow to take major steps to address the threat to the United States when cases of the disease were first reported in other countries,” the Pew findings reported.
The survey shows how the COVID-19 crisis is dividing public opinion.
According to the research, 81% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are concerned about the government’s intention to lift restriction too soon as infections continue to grow.
Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, however, are more divided.
“About half (51%) say their bigger concern is that state governments will act too quickly while slightly fewer (46%) worry more that restrictions on public movement will not be lifted quickly enough,” the Pew Research Center said.
