Poll: 81% of Americans think pandemic further divided the country

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%.

Full survey and methodology.