According to an Axios-Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, Democrats seem more than willing to wear face masks almost indefinitely. In fact, 82% of them would wear face coverings indoors. They fear the new COVID variant “OMICRON,” which has proven to be a much milder form of the coronavirus.
Nevertheless, Democrats continue to mask up (as if they ever stopped). Simply take a stroll into any Democratic enclave and you’ll witness individuals wearing masks. Whether they are walking on a deserted street, inside their autos while driving, or sitting alone on a park bench with hardly a soul around them, they still have a mask on their face.
Almost 95% of Democrats support government mask mandates targeting private businesses, while only 43% of Republicans support the mandates. Overall, only 69% support private mask mandates.
Perhaps even more alarming is that half the country’s population (the Democratic half) are more than willing to give up their civil liberties at the behest of the government.
The poll also asked respondents about the recent Biden travel ban attempting to slow the spread of the new variant. A sizeable 67% of respondents support preemptive travel bans on countries that have contracted OMICRON within their population. Out of the overall numbers, 72% of Democrats support the travel ban compared to 66% of Republicans.
Respondents were also asked if airlines should mandate passengers be vaccinated in order to fly. Just over 67% of those polled said yes.
Yet, when it came to locking down the country again if the virus somehow reconstituted, only 35% said they would support the devastating measure.
The poll also found that most Americans, regardless of political affiliation, aren’t willing to make big changes in their behavior to minimize the risk from the Omicron variant. Only about 1/3 of respondents are likely to stop dining at indoor restaurants because of the new variant, and less than one-in-four are likely to cancel holiday travel plans.
While most Americans have heard about Omicron, few actually know anything about the new variant.
According to a report by the Washington Post, there are currently 17 states that have acknowledged outbreaks of Omicron within their states.
The report states; “Public health officials, meanwhile, are tracking existing cases of omicron in the following states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.”
However, according to Fox News, Dr. Anthony Fauci declared on Friday that regardless of border security or testing measures, Omicron will spread across the country.
“I think given what we know about the transmissibility and a likely transmissibility advantage of Omicron … once it gets in there, it will likely, under the radar screen, be spreading no matter what you do to keep people out or not,” Fauci said.
“That’s the way viruses work,” Fauci continued. “We saw that happen with Delta. I do hope that Omicron doesn’t have that kind of advantage, particularly if it turns out to be serious.”
The Axios-Ipsos poll was conducted between December 3rd and the 6th by Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel®. The poll randomly selected 1,021 adult individuals 18 and older from across the country. The margin of sampling error is 3.4% points at the 95% confidence level for results based on the entire sample of adults.
This story syndicated with permission from My Patriot Post