Aug 11, 2022 - World
Poll: 81% of Americans think pandemic further divided the country
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Majorities across 15 of 19 wealthy democracies polled by Pew feel the pandemic has left their country more divided, with the U.S. leading the way.
Yes, but: The exceptions are interesting.
- Sweden's laissez-faire approach to lockdowns took some criticism, but 60% of Swedes say the pandemic united the country.
- Japanese respondents are among the most likely to think their country mishandled the pandemic, but also among the least likely to consider it divisive.
- Singaporeans overwhelmingly believe their country handled the pandemic well and that it united the country. Malaysians do too, by somewhat smaller margins.
Worth noting: 58% of Americans now believe their country handled the pandemic well, up from 42% a year ago. Similar jumps were seen in most of the European countries.
- The percentage of Australians who feel that way fell from 95% to 76%.
