After President Donald Trump revealed that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19, a poll showed that one in every five Americans say they are more likely to wear a mask.
Wearing masks
About 21% of respondents in a new poll done by Axios-Ipsos said that they are now more likely to wear a face covering and maintain a physical distance of a least six feet from others, which are the rules set by the CDC during the height of the pandemic.
However, for the rest of the Americans, the news about the president and the first lady testing positive for COVID-19 has not changed their behaviors or their views about the pandemic.
These latest poll findings come from a survey of 405 adults in the United States, and it was conducted between October 2 to October 5 in the wake of President Trump's diagnosis and visit at the Walter Reed hospital.
The survey responses show that 77% of adults said that there had been no change in their likelihood to wear a mask or to physically distance themselves for up to six feet following the news about the President testing positive, and 2% said they are less likely.
Axios-Ipsos survey also found out that 12% of respondents said that they are more likely to wear gloves now, compared with 85% who said that there had been no change in their likelihood to wear gloves, and 3% said they are less likely.
In a separate poll conducted by SSRS in the days after the president announced that he had contracted the virus, two-thirds of Americans said President Donald Trump handled the risk of coronavirus infection to others around him irresponsibly.
The poll also found out that 69% of Americans said they trusted little of what they heard from the White House about the President's health, with only 12% saying that they trusted almost all of it.
Disapproval of the President's handling of the coronavirus outbreak stands at a new high in the survey, with 60% saying that they disapprove of how he handled the pandemic in the country. Additionally, 63% say that his own infection is unlikely to change anything about the way that he handles the pandemic.
President Trump returns to the White House
President Donald Trump was discharged just three days after he was treated in the hospital. He staged a departure from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 5, telling his supporters that the virus was "nothing to fear" despite the virus dangerously depriving him of oxygen and hospitalized him for 72 hours.
The president then posed for a mask-less photo-op on the White House balcony, and he shot his entrance into the White House twice photographers and cameramen around him, as reported by CNN.
According to his critics, it was his attempt to convert his still-ongoing disease into a show of strength. President Trump also said in his video message, "Don't be afraid of COVID. Don't let it dominate your life."
The coronavirus has now killed more than 215,000 Americans, and the number of cases continues to rise.
