Nearly half of physicians believe the U.S. coronavirus epidemic won't 'be under control' until after June 2021

A plurality of physicians think Americans will have to wait until well into 2021 for the country's coronavirus epidemic to end, a new Physicians Foundation survey finds.

The terminology is vague, but 49 percent of the physicians surveyed think the virus "will be under control" and "risk of contracting COVID-19 will be minimal" nationally after June 1, 2021, which was the latest date offered in the survey (although 4 percent of those polled said the pandemic would "never" get under control). Another 37 percent were slightly more optimistic, believing the U.S. has a chance to contain the virus between January and June of 2021. Only 10 percent think that could happen this year.

Additionally, the results indicated physicians are concerned that reopening "business, schools, and public places" will lead to new spikes in the virus. A majority of those surveyed believe that reopening poses a greater risk to their patients than prolonging social isolation would.

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The Physicians Foundation survey was conducted by Merritt Hawkins between July 15-26. Data is based on 3,513 responses. The margin of error is 1.86 percentage points. Read the full results here.