A majority of Americans trust the major health agencies and organizations to protect the country from a major outbreak of coronavirus, according to a new Axios|SurveyMonkey poll. The CDC is the most trusted (75%), with the NIH (68%), state health departments (68%), local offices of emergency management (67%), and the WHO (66%) not far behind.
Many fewer people—just 42% overall—say they trust President Trump to protect Americans from a major outbreak. Still, Republicans have more trust in President Trump (84%) than they do in any of the local, national, or international organizations staffed with experts who are trained to manage public health crises.
Nearly eight in 10 people (79%) say they're closely following updates on coronavirus in the news. Trust in the various health organizations and agencies doesn't vary much by source of news; people who get news daily from CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal are all about equally likely to say they trust various organizations to handle the coronavirus outbreak.
The biggest difference is between those who get news from any source on a daily basis and those who do not. Those who do not get news from major news sources on a daily basis are decidedly less trusting of the major international, federal, and local level public health organizations compared with those who follow the news regularly--regardless of the media source.
For more detailed results, click through the interactive toplines below.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Question text:
How closely are you following news about the coronavirus?
Thinking about what is said in the news, in your view is the seriousness of coronavirus generally exaggerated, generally correct, or is it generally underestimated?
Do you follow political news coverage by any of the following media organizations on a daily or almost daily basis? (Select all that apply.)
Do you follow political news coverage on any of the following social media sites on a daily or almost daily basis? (Select all that apply.)
How much do you trust each of the following to protect Americans from a major outbreak of coronavirus?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The World Health Organization (WHO)
Your state’s health department
Your local office of emergency management
President Trump
