Stay-at-home orders urging Americans to limit public activities began in California in mid-March and have since swept the nation in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. In rural states like Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota, governors held off on imposing stay-at-home orders in favor of less severe restrictions. In other states, the orders to stay at home have lasted for weeks, dividing the American public along both political and geographical lines and intensifying concerns about the economy.
Earlier this week, President Trump announced that existing coronavirus social distancing guidelines set to expire at the end of April would not be extended further. With federal guidelines expiring and the decision to lift restrictions left up to governors, some states are pressing ahead to reopen despite warnings from Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health experts regarding another potential spike in cases. As of today, more than a dozen states will have begun to partially reopen their economies and resume public life.
Texas is expected to take some of the most expansive measures, allowing retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and malls to reopen and operate at 25 percent capacity. Several states remain on extended lockdown, including California, New York, Illinois, and Michigan, where armed protesters gathered at the Capitol on Thursday to urge lawmakers to vote against extending the state of emergency. Largely organized by conservative groups opposed to state-mandated lockdown measures, anti-quarantine demonstrations have also erupted in Pennsylvania, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky in recent weeks.
Fluent Pulse: Audience Snapshot
As a leading performance marketing company, Fluent creates meaningful connections between brands and consumers. Interacting with nearly one million Americans daily across our owned and operated portfolio of sites, we are leveraging our real-time survey capabilities to help businesses and municipalities better understand and respond to shifts in consumer behavior during the coronavirus outbreak.
Since launching the Fluent Pulse survey on March 10, we’ve engaged with over five million American adults over the age of 18 to gauge their sentiments around the novel coronavirus. Below we take a closer look at the Fluent audience to gain insight into their compliance with stay-at-home orders as well as general sentiment around states lifting restrictions and re-opening for business.
Check out fluentpulse.com/covid-19/ for weekly updates on the impact of COVID-19 in America.
