Majority of Americans support another two weeks of lockdown: poll

About three-quarters of Americans favor continuing shutdowns for another two weeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus, compared to only about 10 percent who oppose doing so, according to a poll by Business Insider and SurveyMonkey.

The poll, conducted April 28-29 among 1,099 respondents, found 50 percent strongly support at least another two weeks of social distancing measures, with another 25 percent saying they supported them. Six percent said they opposed continuing the measures, compared to 4 percent who were strongly opposed. A larger portion—14 percent—said they had no opinion.

The survey comes as a handful of states have announced the lifting of some restrictions, including Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has announced some businesses may begin the reopening process on Friday, as well as Georgia, which began the reopening process at the end of last week.

It also comes days after Attorney General William Barr suggested the Justice Department will intervene if it feels state or local measures infringe on the constitution.

“If a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections, the Department of Justice may have an obligation to address that overreach in federal court,” Barr wrote in a memo Monday.

Pollsters conducted the poll based on a national sample balanced by census data on age and gender. It has a margin of error of three points and a 95 percent confidence level.

A statewide poll of Colorado, meanwhile, indicated that a majority of residents of the state who have lost work as a result of the pandemic oppose an immediate reopening. Sixty-four percent of those who lost a job, income or hours due to the pandemic were in favor of keeping the state’s businesses closed despite the Sunday expiration of the stay-at-home order.