Majority of Americans don't expect gatherings of 10 or more people to be safe until June or later, poll finds

Americans.
(Image credit: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

A majority of Americans anticipate that gatherings of 10 or more people will be unsafe at least until the end of June, if not longer, a new poll has found.

In a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released Tuesday, only 10 percent of respondents said they expect gatherings of 10 or more people will be safe to attend by the end of April or sooner.

Twenty-one percent said they expected these gatherings to be safe by the end of of May, but 65 percent said they don't expect them to be safe until the end of June or later. This includes 20 percent who said the end of June, 13 percent who said the end of July, 19 percent who said later in 2020, and 13 percent who said longer.

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This comes amid protests against stay-at-home orders in some states, though a recent Pew Research Center poll found that 66 percent of Americans are more concerned that coronavirus restrictions will be lifted too soon rather than not soon enough. A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll also found that just 27 percent of Americans said they expected to resume their regular routine by June 1, and even when coronavirus restrictions lift, a recent Gallup poll found that most Americans will hold off on resuming their normal activities right away.

The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll was conducted by speaking to a random national sample of 1,013 adults over the phone from April 14-19. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points. Read more at The Washington Post.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.