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(AP) American voters went to the polls totally divided on how they view President Donald Trump’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. But in the places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump had enormous support.
An Associated Press analysis revealed that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority (93% of those counties) elected Trump, a higher rate than other less affected areas.
Most were rural counties in Montana, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Wisconsin, the kinds of areas that often have lower rates of adherence to social distancing, mask use, and other public health measures, and have been a focal point for a long time. of the last increase in cases.
Taking note of the contrast, state health officials are pausing for a moment of introspection. Even as they worry about the increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths, they hope to reframe their messages and aim for a restoration of public opinion now that the elections are over.
“Public health officials need to step back, listen and understand people who are not taking the same position” about the use of masks and other control measures, said Dr. Marcus Plescia of the Association of Health Officials State and Territorial.
“I think there is a possibility that things will become less burdensome and divisive,” he said, adding that there is a possibility that a redesigned public health message will unify Americans around reducing cases so that hospitals do not flood during the winter months.
The electoral divide comes amid an explosion of cases and hospitalizations in the United States and around the world.
The United States broke another record in the seven-day moving average of daily new cases, reaching nearly 90,000. The new case count on Thursday was on track for another day above 100,000, with massive numbers reported across the country, including nearly 25,000 in Texas, Illinois and Florida. Iowa and Indiana also reported more than 4,000 cases each.
The AP’s analysis was limited to counties in which at least 95% of precincts had reported results and grouped counties into six categories based on the rates of Covid-19 cases they had experienced per 100,000 residents.
Polls also show that voters who are split between Republican Trump and Democrat Joe Biden differ on whether the pandemic is under control.
36% of Trump voters described the pandemic as fully or mostly under control, and another 47% said it was somewhat under control, according to AP VoteCast, a national poll of more than 110,000 voters conducted for AP by NORC in the College. from Chicago. Meanwhile, 82% of Biden voters said the pandemic is by no means under control.
The pandemic was considered at least somewhat under control by a small majority of voters in many red states, including Alabama (60%), Missouri (54%), Mississippi (58%), Kentucky (55%), Texas (55%) , Tennessee (56%) and South Carolina (56%).
In Wisconsin, where the virus soared just before the election, 57% said the pandemic was not under control. In Washington state, where the virus is more under control now compared to the beginning of the year, 55% said the same. Voters in New York and New Hampshire, where the virus is now more under control after the first few waves, were divided in their assessments, similar to voters across the country.
Trump voters interviewed by AP reporters said they value individual freedom and believe the president is doing as well as anyone could in response to the coronavirus.
Michaela Lane, a 25-year-old Republican, dropped off her ballot last week at a polling place at an outdoor mall in Phoenix. He cast his vote for Trump.
“I feel like the most important issue facing the country as a whole is freedom in general,” Lane said. “Infringing on the freedom of the people, the overriding of the government, the overreaching of the government, the chaos in many of the problems that are happening today and just giving the people their rights back.
About half of Trump’s voters rated the economy and jobs as the top problem facing the nation, roughly double the percentage that named the pandemic, according to VoteCast. By contrast, the majority of Biden’s voters, roughly six in 10, said the pandemic was the biggest problem.
In Madison, Wisconsin, Eric Engstrom, a 31-year-old investment analyst, and his wife, Gwen, voted absentee by mail in early October.
Trump’s failure to control the pandemic sealed his vote for Biden, Engstrom said, calling the coronavirus the most immediate threat facing the nation. He and his wife are expecting their first child, a girl, in January and fear “the possibility that one or both of us will get sick when the baby is born,” he said.
Engstrom called Trump’s response to the virus abysmal. “If there was any chance that I would vote for Trump, it was eliminated because of the pandemic,” he said.
The political temperature has added to the stress for public health officials, Plescia said. “Our biggest concern is how long can they keep up this pace?” he said.
Since the onset of the pandemic, 74 state and local public health officials in 31 states have resigned, retired or been fired, according to an ongoing analysis by AP and Kaiser Health News.
As the electoral climate dissipates, increased hospitalizations amid colder weather creates “a really pivotal moment” in the pandemic, said Sema Sgaier, executive director of the Surgo Foundation, a nonprofit organization with based in Washington, DC that worked with Ariadne Labs, affiliated with Harvard University, to develop a tool to estimate vaccine needs in states.
“We really have to act together. When I say ‘we’ I mean collectively,” Sgaier said. Finding common ground may be easier if one or more of the vaccine candidates is safe and effective and gets government approval, he said.
“The vaccine provides the reset button,” Sgaier said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci can be another unifying force. According to VoteCast, 73% of voters across the country approve of the way Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been handling the pandemic.
Even among Trump voters, 53% approve of Fauci’s performance. About 9 out of 10 Biden voters approve of it. – AP
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