Two-Thirds Expect Return to Normal Will Take 6 Months or More

Two-thirds of Americans do not expect their daily lives to return to normal for at least six months, and as states reopen, three-quarters are concerned that a second wave of coronavirus cases will emerge, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds.

“There’s a great sense that normalcy is not around the corner,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll.

He pointed out that with states reopening — some outside federal guidelines for doing so — there’s “a real disconnect between public opinion and public policy.”

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit, Americans have also grown more wary of voting in person. Half of them now say they would vote by mail if it’s allowed by their state, according to the poll. About a quarter of Americans voted by mail in the 2016 general election, Miringoff noted.