Infographic – Health Agencies Trusted for Covid-19 Info

Click on image for full-size view (Pew Research Center)

4 July 2020. As the U.S. enters its Independence Day in the midst of its worst-ever pandemic, a divided public most trusts its health agencies for information about the disease. Those findings are displayed in this weekend’s infographic, from data collected by the Pew Research Center.

Overall, more than six in 10 American adults (64%) believe the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health agencies get the facts right almost all or most of the time about the coronavirus pandemic. Roughly half — 50 to 53 percent — also say their state governors or governments and local news media get facts about the pandemic right almost all or most of the time.

But sharp partisan divides emerge in these assessments. While three-quarters of Democrats (76%) trust information from CDC and public health agencies, only about half of Republicans also trust what these agencies say. Democrats are also more trusting than Republicans in coronavirus pandemic information from state governors or governments (62/45%) and local news media (62/38%).

The partisan differences become chasms when asking about trust in information about the pandemic from news media in general and the Trump White House. While six in 10 Democrats (60%) trust information on the coronavirus from news media overall, only a quarter (25%) of Republicans agree. And a majority (54%) of Republicans trust what the Trump administration says about the pandemic, compared to about one in 10 Democrats (9%).

The Pew Research Center conducted the survey 4 to 10 June with 9,654 U.S. adults taking part in Pew’s American Trends Panel. Panel participants were recruited from a random national sample of residential addresses, who completed online questionnaires, with responses weighted to reflect U.S. population demographics and partisan affiliations.

More from Science & Enterprise:

• Infographic – Steps to Control Covid-19 Transmission
• Infographic – Covid-19 Hurting Local Businesses
• Infographic – High Hopes for Covid-19 Therapy, Vaccine

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