It’s been over a year since COVID-19, quarantine, social distancing and masks changed everything; but we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! The vaccine is out and in many states, including Oklahoma, the COVID-19 case numbers are finally going down! However, some people are still planning to carry out safety precautions for a while longer.

According to this survey from Civic Science, 28% of US adults said they expected to have to practice self-isolation and social distancing for at least another 6 months. 64% of people said they are either somewhat or very concerned about being in public spaces right now, whereas 36% are not at all concerned. However, if you look at the chart below, you can see the overall downward trend that "very concerned" has taken over these last few months. People are still worried, just not nearly as much as they used to be!

Another topic that Civic Science asked people about was shopping and eating out. 63% of adults say they feel comfortable shopping in stores and 51% are comfortable going out to eat at restaurants right now. People are more divided on whether or not they should be traveling or going on vacations. 38% of adults are comfortable traveling right now, whereas 28% won’t be comfortable traveling for at least 6 more months.

Overall, people are optimistic about the US economy with 45% of people saying that they think it will get better in the next 6 months. Along with this sentiment, 36% of people think that it will be easier to get a job over the next 6 months.

I really liked this article because Civic Science has been gathering this data every week since the COVID-19 outbreak started and it's fascinating to see how the public's feelings on these topics have changed over the last 12 months!

You can take a closer look at the Civic Science survey here and a look at our Oklahoma COVID-19 case dashboard here to get the latest COVID-19 data.