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Majority of Floridians wary of loosening social-distancing guidelines before May

New Quinnipiac poll shows 72% don't want to ease restrictions yet
Posted at 8:21 AM, Apr 23, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-23 08:22:03-04

Floridians seem wary of loosening social-distancing guidelines by the end of the month.

A new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that 72% of Florida voters should not loosen the social-distancing guidelines before May, while 22% disagreed.

Of the percentage opposed to loosening the guidelines, 90% of them are Democrats and 76% are women.

The poll also shows that even more voters don't want the statewide shutdown to end until public health officials determine it is safe.

A total of 76% yield to public health officials, while 17% support reopening the state even if health officials warn against it amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Other takeaways from the poll were voters' perceptions of Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump, when they think the coronavirus crisis will end and whether they think it's getting worse.

Florida voters had mixed feelings about the latter question, with 39% believing the situation remains about the same, 32% believing things had gotten worse and just 25% believing things have improved.

Almost 50% of those voters polled think the crisis will drag on in Florida for several months, while 26% believe it will last for more than a year. Only 18% think it will be over in a few weeks.

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About half of those voters polled approve of DeSantis' response, but he is thought of more favorably than Trump.

Although the president has an approval rating of just 46%, Trump was a clear favorite among Republicans with 89%.

"Voters make it very clear they want guidance on navigating the crisis not from the White House or the state house in Tallahassee, but from public health officials," Quinnipiac polling analyst Tim Malloy said.