Rasmussen: Most Americans ‘Confident’ U.S. Healthcare System Can Contain Coronavirus

A new Rasmussen survey finds that while most Americans are concerned about the rapidly spreading coronavirus that originated in China, 72 percent are still confident the U.S. public health system will be able to contain its spread within the country.

According to the survey, 72 percent of Americans “correctly predicted” that the coronavirus outbreak in China would spread to the U.S., including 31 percent who said it was “very likely.”

Of those surveyed, 56 percent said they are “personally concerned” about the threat of the coronavirus, including 18 percent who are “very concerned.” However, 40 percent say they are “not very concerned” (31 percent) and “not at all concerned” (9 percent).

Regardless of an outbreak in the U.S., 72 percent of those surveyed said they are “confident” that the U.S. public health system can handle the situation. Of the poll participants, 24 percent said they are “not confident” U.S. health agencies can contain the coronavirus if an outbreak occurs within the country.

The survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted January 23 and 26, 2020. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Five cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the U.S. — two in southern California and one each in Washington state, Chicago, and Arizona. All of the cases involve people who had recently arrived from central China, Breitbart News reported.

On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised Americans to avoid all non-essential travel to China.\

The CDC said:

While it’s possible that some person-to-person spread with this virus may be detected in the United States, the goal of the ongoing U.S. public health response is to contain this outbreak and prevent sustained spread in this country.

Similarly, the State Department issued its highest warning level for travel on Monday to the Wuhan area, from which the coronavirus has spread. The State Department also urged Americans to “reconsider” plans to travel to China at this time.