How many Americans are still social distancing? Poll finds record low for pandemic

A low percentage of Americans are still social distancing from non-household members during the COVID pandemic, according to a new Gallup survey.

Eighteen percent of Americans say they’re isolating from people who don’t live in their homes — compared to 38% in March — according to a poll conducted June 14-20. The poll had a sample size of 4,843 adults and its margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The share of Americans completely or mostly social distancing peaked at 75% during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020.

Meanwhile, nearly half of Americans, 47%, say they haven’t tried at all to social distance in the past day.

People are still wearing masks, though the percentage of those who say the wore a mask in the past week dropped to 68% in June, which is down 11 points from May. The CDC updated its COVID guidance May 13, saying it’s OK for vaccinated Americans to go without masks in most situations, including indoor settings.

Mask usage fell among fully vaccinated Americans from 90% in May to 77% in June, and dropped 11 points to 38% among people who don’t plan to get a shot.

“Relatively few Americans are now scrupulously avoiding non-household members because of COVID-19. But as the pandemic remains under improved control, the public is still not rushing back to business as usual,” Gallup researchers say. “Most Americans are still using face masks in public to some degree, even if they are vaccinated.”

Gallup also polled respondents on if they have returned to “normalcy” in specific areas of life. The percentage of Americans who said their lives are “completely back to normal” in these areas include:

• 59% socializing with friends and family.
• 52% shopping.
• 51% parenting/raising children (based on parents of children under 18).
  
  
• 49% work (based on full-time or part-time employment).
  
  
• 49% personal finances.
• 45% dining out.
• 43% physical health.
• 39% mental health.
• 39% exercise.
• 34% school (based on parents of children under 18).
• 30% entertainment and recreation.
• 29% traveling.

Americans who say they don’t plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for 24% of those polled, are more likely to say their lives have returned to normal compared to fully vaccinated Americans. For example, 55% of vaccinated adults and 75% of unvaccinated adults say socializing with family and friends has returned to normal.

The U.S. has more than 33.7 million coronavirus cases and 606,000 deaths as of Thursday, July 8, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Worldwide, the COVID death toll surpassed 4 million this week, according to Johns Hopkins.

This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 11:25 AM with the headline "How many Americans are still social distancing? Poll finds record low for pandemic."