Post-COVID 'return to normal' could be 6 months away: poll

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Almost half of Bay Area voters (49%) still harbor concerns about contracting COVID-19 and an even greater number (59%) worry about family members becoming infected, according to the 2022 Bay Area Council Poll. Voters also expressed concern about the lingering mental health effects of the virus, particularly on children.

The number of voters who say they feel safe now returning to "normal" has almost tripled from a year ago to 30%. Another 32% of those polled said they expect normal to return within the year and 24% said it will be at least a year, or maybe as long as three before normal returns. Another 12% said they believe we will never return to normal.

This is a graph regarding when people expect to return to normal from COVID
Courtesy: Bay Area Council

Economically speaking, BIPOC voters expressed the greatest concern about COVID's ongoing impact on the economy at 74%, compared to just 62% of white voters. Regarding COVID's impact on mass transit ridership, 73% of Bay Area voters say they expect reduced ridership to be temporary and that sooner or later, it will return to normal.

Courtesy: Bay Area Council

Among the biggest concerns expressed by those polled was COVID's impacts on mental health with 85% of voters polled concerned about the virus' impact on children and youth, while 79% were concerned about its mental health impact on adults. Concern for the pandemic's impact on young people was fairly universal with 85% of voters expressing concern, regardless of whether they had children or not.

The Bay Area Council is a business-sponsored public-policy advocacy organization for the Bay Area.

Via Coronavirus | KRON4 https://www.kron4.com

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