Coronavirus: Most Californians believe state is reopening too quickly, still concerned about catching COVID-19

A new majority of Californians believe the state is moving too quickly in reopening, while three in four are concerned about themselves or a family member catching the virus, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

A new majority of Californians believe the state is reopening too quickly, while three in four are concerned about themselves or a family member catching the virus, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The California Health Care Foundation, in partnership with Ipsos, asked Californians in a tracking poll the past two months about the rate at shelter-in-place restrictions were being lifted. The number of respondents who said they believed the state was moving too quickly increased 10 points from a plurality of 43% on June 19 to a majority of 53% in the latest poll released Wednesday, while 27% believe the state is reopening at the right pace, and 18% believe it isn’t moving fast enough.

The poll surveyed 1,156 Californians from June 26-30, before Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered indoor restaurants and bars to close for three weeks in 19 counties where the virus was spreading, with a margin of error of ±3.1 points. Over the time period the poll was conducted, California averaged 5,894 new cases per day. Since, the seven-day average has risen to 7,358 new cases per day.

An even larger share of the population is either somewhat or very concerned about contracting the virus — 77% of respondents — centered among the communities that have already borne the brunt of the virus. Larger shares of California’s Latinx (61%) and low-income (54%) communities said they were “very concerned” than any other population (overall: 41%).

In California, Latinx residents make up 54.6% of cases and 42.6% of deaths, despite making up 38.9% of the state’s population. The poll showed 38% of Californians are currently leaving their house to go to work but 52% of Latinos, the highest of any demographic.

A widespread testing effort in April in San Francisco’s Mission District showed the virus spreading among working class families in multigenerational households, while a recent New York Times analysis showed Black and Latinx residents as being three times more likely to catch the virus than their white neighbors.

Similarly, 88% of Californians are confident they can access the medical care they need if they do contract the virus, but  70% of low-income residents and 73% of Latinx residents indicated such confidence, compared to 93% of white residents.

The question over reopening was mostly divided among partisan lines, but there was also an urban-rural split, and some low-income workers appear to have lost patience for the shutdowns.

The poll showed 73% of respondents who identified as liberal said California was reopening too fast vs. 32% of conservatives. Most of those who described themselves as moderates (59%) leaned toward reopening too quickly.

There was a 15-point split among urban and rural respondents, 56% to 41%, who said the state is reopening too quickly.

Overall, Californians moved 10 points in favor of slowing down the process, but that lost three points of favorability among low-income residents since the June tracking poll (50% to 47%).

Notably, no demographic had more than 37% of its respondents say the state was moving too slowly.

However, the poll showed that while mask-wearing has dramatically increased among the overall population — from 58% in April to 78% in July — only two-thirds of those leaving the house for work are being required by their employers to mask up. Only a slightly higher percentage (69%) believe their employer has done enough to protect against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Californians are being slightly less cautious when it comes to other social distancing and health measures. Still, 90% are maintaining six feet of distance all or most of the time, though the percentage who said all the time fell six points. And 91% continue to wash their hands frequently most or all of the time, down from 94% in April.