TABLE 2. Attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs related to COVID-19, stay-at-home orders, nonessential business closures, and public health guidance — United States (U.S.),* New York City (NYC), and Los Angeles (LA), May 5–12, 2020.
| Attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs | U.S. |
NYC |
LA |
p-value† |
p-value† |
p-value† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (N = 1,676) | (N = 286) | (N = 259) | U.S. versus NYC | U.S. versus LA | NYC versus LA | |
|
Attitudes, no. of respondents (%)
| ||||||
|
Support stay-at-home order and nonessential business closures
| ||||||
| Yes |
1,332 (79.5) |
248 (86.7) |
211 (81.5) |
<0.05§ |
0.5097 |
0.1187 |
| No |
344 (20.5) |
38 (13.3) |
48 (18.5) |
|||
|
Nonessential workers should stay home
| ||||||
| Agree |
1,128 (67.3) |
219 (76.6) |
179 (69.1) |
<0.05§ |
0.6722 |
<0.05§ |
| Neither agree nor disagree |
283 (16.9) |
41 (14.3) |
38 (14.7) |
|||
| Disagree |
265 (15.8) |
26 (9.1) |
42 (16.2) |
|||
|
Persons should always keep ≥6-ft of physical distance
| ||||||
| Agree |
1,470 (87.7) |
262 (91.6) |
234 (90.3) |
0.1242 |
0.4707 |
0.6377 |
| Neither agree nor disagree |
127 (7.6) |
17 (5.9) |
15 (5.8) |
|||
| Disagree |
79 (4.7) |
7 (2.4) |
10 (3.9) |
|||
|
Groups of 10 or more persons should not be allowed
| ||||||
| Agree |
1,381 (82.4) |
247 (86.4) |
226 (87.3) |
0.1245 |
0.1374 |
0.8130 |
| Neither agree nor disagree |
156 (9.3) |
25 (8.7) |
19 (7.3) |
|||
| Disagree |
139 (8.3) |
14 (4.9) |
14 (5.4) |
|||
|
Dining inside restaurants should not be allowed
| ||||||
| Agree |
1,117 (66.6) |
233 (81.5) |
186 (71.8) |
<0.05§ |
0.1769 |
<0.05§ |
| Neither agree nor disagree |
244 (14.6) |
28 (9.8) |
36 (13.9) |
|||
| Disagree |
315 (18.8) |
25 (8.7) |
37 (14.3) |
|||
|
Behaviors, no. of respondents (%)
| ||||||
|
In self-isolation
¶
| ||||||
| Yes |
1,296 (77.3) |
242 (84.6) |
215 (83.0) |
<0.05§ |
<0.05§ |
0.6954 |
| No |
380 (22.7) |
44 (15.4) |
44 (17.0) |
|||
|
Keep ≥6 ft apart from others
| ||||||
| Always |
975 (58.2) |
191 (66.8) |
172 (66.4) |
0.0653 |
0.1576 |
0.8331 |
| Often |
357 (21.3) |
54 (18.9) |
42 (16.2) |
|||
| Sometimes |
138 (8.2) |
16 (5.6) |
17 (6.6) |
|||
| Rarely |
69 (4.1) |
10 (3.5) |
10 (3.9) |
|||
| Never |
137 (8.2) |
15 (5.2) |
18 (6.9) |
|||
|
Avoid groups of 10 or more persons
| ||||||
| Always |
1,259 (75.1) |
222 (77.6) |
196 (75.7) |
0.7621 |
0.9568 |
0.8975 |
| Often |
181 (10.8) |
32 (11.2) |
29 (11.2) |
|||
| Sometimes |
59 (3.5) |
9 (3.1) |
7 (2.7) |
|||
| Rarely |
39 (2.3) |
5 (1.7) |
5 (1.9) |
|||
| Never |
138 (8.2) |
18 (6.3) |
22 (8.5) |
|||
|
Been to a public area in the previous week
| ||||||
| Yes |
1,533 (91.5) |
260 (90.9) |
235 (90.7) |
0.8436 |
0.7851 |
0.9381 |
| No |
143 (8.5) |
26 (9.1) |
24 (9.3) |
|||
|
Wear cloth face covering when in public**
| ||||||
| Always |
925 (60.3) |
208 (80.0) |
183 (77.9) |
<0.05† |
<0.05§ |
0.7659 |
| Often |
212 (13.8) |
25 (9.6) |
28 (11.9) |
|||
| Sometimes |
134 (8.7) |
14 (5.4) |
16 (6.8) |
|||
| Rarely |
63 (4.1) |
5 (1.9) |
3 (1.3) |
|||
| Never |
199 (13.0) |
8 (3.1) |
5 (2.1) |
|||
|
Beliefs, no. of respondents (%)
| ||||||
|
Believe community mitigation strategies are
| ||||||
| Not restrictive enough |
302 (18.0) |
49 (17.4) |
42 (16.3) |
0.0500 |
0.1699 |
<0.05§ |
| The right balance |
1,112 (66.3) |
204 (72.3) |
163 (63.4) |
|||
| Too restrictive |
262 (15.6) |
29 (10.3) |
52 (20.2) |
|||
|
Would feel safe if community mitigation strategies were lifted nationwide at the time of survey
| ||||||
| Yes |
431 (25.7) |
53 (18.5) |
69 (26.6) |
<0.05§ | 0.8102 | 0.0304 |
| No |
1,245 (74.3) |
233 (81.5) |
190 (73.4) |
|||
| No, but would like restrictions lifted and accept risks | 287 (17.1) | 36 (12.6) | 33 (12.7) | |||
Abbreviation: COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019.
* The U.S. survey group did not exclude respondents from NYC and LA.
† Calculated with Chi-squared test of independence.
§ P-value is statistically significant (p<0.05).
¶ For this survey, self-isolating means having no contact with others outside of the respondent’s household unless required for essential services.
** Of respondents who reported having been in a public area in the preceding week.