Mar 24, 2020 - Health

Coronavirus' growing emotional toll

Sam Baker
Data: Axios/Ipsos surveys of 1,092 U.S. adults, conducted March 13-16, and 998 adults, conducted March 20-23, 2020. Margin of error of ±3.2 and ±3.3 percentage points; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

The response to the coronavirus outbreak is increasingly taxing Americans' mental and emotional health, according to the second installment of our Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

By the numbers: Last week, just 29% of the people we surveyed said their emotional well-being had gotten worse lately. This week, that's up to 43% — compared with a much more modest increase in the number of people who said their physical health has deteriorated.

Between the lines: This change was particularly evident among people who said they've had to start working from home, and our survey showed a sharp uptick in the number of Americans who have started undertaking various social-distancing measures.

  • 74% said they had canceled or skipped large gatherings — that number was below 50% a week ago.
  • 25% said they've gone out to eat in the past week, down from 56%.

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