More than 75 percent of Americans are afraid of contracting the coronavirus, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds, as the number of new COVID-19 cases surges nationwide.
In the poll, 76 percent of respondents said that they are concerned about contracting the virus, up from 69 percent in the same survey on June 12.
Places that were once considered hot spots for the disease, such as New York and New Jersey, have seen their numbers decrease steadily without much of a rebound, but spikes have occurred in a number of states that pressed to reopen their economies earlier.
California, Texas and Florida have all experienced record highs in daily coronavirus cases the past week. Specifically, Texas broke its record for daily cases on Wednesday and then again on Thursday with nearly 6,000 new cases.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Wednesday announced that his state would pause some of its reopening measures as it grapples with a fast-rising number of hospitalizations, particularly in its numerous metropolitan areas.
Abbott, however, said that businesses that have already been allowed to reopen can remain open.
Despite the stated fear of getting COVID-19, over 90 percent of respondents said that they were comfortable with going grocery shopping while wearing a mask and nearly 80 percent said that they were OK with going into work.
However, people are still weary about doing leisure activities such as eating at a restaurant or staying at a hotel, with just over half of the respondents saying that they would do either.
The poll was conducted June 24-25 and surveyed 579 adults across the country with a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.
