USF-Nielsen survey finds strong support for limiting public gatherings
May 13, 2020 - Nearly 95 percent of Floridians favor limits on public gatherings as a way to slow the spread of Covid-19. There's also strong support for other mitigation policies, including closing restaurants and bars (89 percent), limiting gatherings in houses of worship (87 percent), stay at home orders (86 percent), closing beaches (82 percent), instituting nightly curfews (63 percent) and requiring face masks in public (80 percent), according to a statewide survey by University of South Florida and Nielsen. The survey of 600 Floridians, taken between April 15 and April 24, found that just over half worry they will get sick in the next three months, while 76 percent are concerned someone they know will contract Covid-19. About 87 percent of resondents said public concern related to coronavirus is justified, but four in 10 people surveyed said public reactions to the pandemic would do more harm than the disease itself. A little under half of those surveyed — 48.9 percent — approve of the federal government's response to the pandemic, while just over half, or 51.5 percent, approve the state's response and nearly 70 percent approve their local government's response.