(Berea) - As Ohio waits to hear Governor Mike DeWine’s detailed plans to begin lifting stay-at-home restrictions, a new statewide poll shows that 70% of Ohioans prioritize public health over the economy.
The Baldwin Wallace University Ohio Poll also shows that 85% of voters in Ohio approve of DeWine’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 50% who approve of how President Donald Trump has handled the crisis. That Ohio gap has widened by five points since a BW Great Lakes Poll conducted in late March
The poll questioned self-identified registered voters in Ohio on a range of issues, including the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic response and how the president and governor are handling the crisis, along with the 2020 election.
About 85% of Ohioans approve of the way DeWine is handling the crisis, an increase of five points from the March Great Lakes Poll. In contrast, half of Ohioans approve of the way President Trump is handling the crisis.
Eight in ten Ohioans believe DeWine ‘acted at the appropriate time,’ but only four in ten Ohioans believe Trump acted at the right time.
90% of Ohioans trust DeWine to ‘provide accurate information on COVID-19,’ only a slim majority trust Trump to do the same. Ohioans also look to the director of Ohio’s Department of Health, Dr. Amy Acton, for accurate information on COVID-19.About half of those polled agree with DeWine’s plan to begin reopening Ohio’s economy on May 1. At the same time, a majority don’t think many businesses nor places of worship should reopen yet. Instead, they are worried that the U.S. will move too quickly to lift restrictions. Once restrictions are lifted, they will take a “wait and see” approach to resuming their normal activities.
There is still a lot of fear about COVID-19. More than 80% of those polled say they are feeling some level of anxiety about the virus. Ohioans are concerned that they will spread the virus and they are even more concerned about getting it from others. Close to half (47%) think the worst is yet to come. but 55% think the U.S. healthcare system can handle it.
94% of Ohioans are concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, and a supermajority of those polled (68%) are concerned about their personal finances. Yet, respondents believe that public health is more important than the economy.
Large majorities of Ohioans say they obtain COVID-19 news from local and national media, with 84% relying on local news media outlets ‘often’ or ‘sometimes.’ Ohioans are much less likely to lean on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, for COVID-19 news.
The Baldwin Wallace University Ohio Poll was conducted between 4/20/20 and 4/25/20 in partnership with Oakland University (Michigan) and Ohio Northern University. The survey was conducted online among self-identified registered voters in Ohio (n = 797) using Qualtrics, an online sample aggregator. Sampled individuals were emailed by Qualtrics and responded using a personalized link to the survey.
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