According to the polling data collected between May 4 and May 10, from a survey of 4,159 U.S. adults, approximately 52 percent are concerned about COVID-19 testing availability, down from a high of 62 percent in April.
The same polling data indicates that only 48 percent of Americans are worried about the availability of supplies and services during the COVID-19 pandemic, a decrease from 64 percent in April.
The polling data was released the day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that 10.1 million, or 3.3 percent of Americans, have undergone testing for the new coronavirus. Fifteen percent of those patients tested positive.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded nearly $583 million to 1,385 health care facilities in the U.S. to expand testing for COVID-19, that money was allocated under the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act and signed into law by President Donald Trump on April 24.
“This new funding secured by President Trump will expand the work health centers are doing to test Americans for COVID-19,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a press release. “Widespread testing is a critical step in reopening America, and health centers are vital to making testing easily accessible, especially for underserved and minority populations. Further, because health centers can help notify contacts of patients who test positive, they will continue playing an important role in cooperating with state and local public health departments.”
Meanwhile, concerns about COVID-19 testing and the availability of needed supplies and services for hospitals are not just waning overall, but also along political party lines, gender and race.
The Gallup survery found that men are overall less worried than women, whites less worried than non-whites, and Americans 50 and older are less concerned overall than those who are in the 18-29 age demographic.
The polling data supports this with an overwhelming number of Republicans showing far less concern than Democrats and Independents.
Only 22 percent of Republicans were concerned about COVID-19 testing, while 78 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of Independents said the same in the May poll.
Republicans were even less worried about the availability of services and supplies for hospitals, with just 19 percent worried, down 18 percent from the April poll.
Comparatively, 70 percent of the Democrats and 50 percent of Independents who were polled are worried about the availability of services and supplies for hospitals.
