Looking back, 58% of voters believe that shutting down businesses and locking down society did more harm than good. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 35% disagree and 17% are not sure.
Belief that the lockdowns did more harm than good is up a point since August and up three points from July. In May, 2020, a majority of voters took the opposite view.
The current totals include 35% who Strongly Agree that the lockdowns did more harm than good and 15% who Strongly Disagree.
The survey also found that 48% believe many states and cities overreact to the coronavirus pandemic in ways that did more harm than good. On that point, 39% disagree.
Just 48% believe the CDC has generally provided reliable and fact-based guidelines during the pandemic. Thirty-two percent (32%) think it has generally acted in a partisan political manner and 20% are not sure.
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Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left more than seven years ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Question 1:
Looking back, did many states and cities overreact to the coronavirus pandemic in ways that did more harm than good?
48% Yes
39% No
13% Not sure
Question 2:
How closely do you follow news about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for behavior during the pandemic?
30% Very closely
40% Somewhat closely
19% Not very closely
8% Not at all
3% Not sure
Question 3:
During the pandemic, has the CDC generally provided reliable and fact-based guidelines, or has it generally acted in a partisan political manner?
48% Fact-based guidelines
32% Partisan political manner
20% Not sure
Question 4:
Looking back over the past year or so, would you agree or disagree with this statement: “Despite good intentions, shutting down businesses and locking down society did more harm than good.”
35% Strongly agree
23% Somewhat agree
20% Somewhat disagree
15% Strongly disagree
7% Not sure
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on December 1-3, 2021. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
