Ready or NOT
Few residents plan to partake just yet in state’s reopening, poll finds
About 1 in 5 Arizonans is ready to dine out and even fewer are immediately ready to go back to the gym or watch a movie in theaters, according to a new ASU Morrison Institute-Arizona Republic poll.
The results, like many polls, show splits between Democrats and Republicans, men and woman and people of different ethnicity, education levels, income and age.
The poll asked Arizonans, if restrictions were lifted in May, how soon they expected to feel comfortable returning to normal activities, from going to restaurants to attending church.
The online survey was conducted in late April and early May before Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday announced he would lift the statewide stay-athome order that encouraged residents to limit their time outside of the home to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
The order expired at the end of the day Friday. Terry Larpenteur, 63, felt comfortable enough to
drink coffee outside AJ’s Fine Foods in uptown Phoenix on Thursday afternoon. But he’s not yet venturing inside to dine.
“I’ll wait on returning indoors for a little bit,” he said.
Among Arizonans polled, 20% said they were ready to immediately return to restaurants, while 35% were like Larpenteur, ready to return soon. Another 29% said they wouldn’t be comfortable for months or longer and 16% were unsure.
“It’s safe to say that people are being cautious,” said Alison Cook-Davis, Morrison Institute’s associate director for research. “These perceptions are going to change based on the response on the ground.”
The amount of testing, the number of COVID-19 cases and how venues address people’s concerns all will play into reengagement in the public sphere.
“The attitudes could change potentially very quickly as the information on health changes,” Cook-Davis said.
Arizonans most cautious about sporting events
Respondents were even more in other areas:
❚ 18% would immediately return to gyms.
❚ 16% would immediately send their kids to school.
❚ 15% would immediately return to bars.
❚ 13% would immediately return to movie theaters.
❚ 12% said they would immediately go to sporting events.
Respondents were more open to attending religious services, many of which moved online during the pandemic, with 22% saying they would go back within days. State health officials this week offered guidance for places of worship to reopen.
Of those polled who typically go to offices, 26% indicate they immediately would be comfortable returning to the office.
Sporting events and bars, both built for crowds, still are figuring out reopenings.
The governor has not yet lifted the executive order closing bars, although some reopened by serving food.
Ducey this week said he welcomes professional sports to play in Arizona, although any reopening at this stage would be limited, such as without fans
cautious
in attendance.
Democrats more likely to proceed cautiously
Democrats apparently will be cooking from home longer than Republicans.
About 45% of respondents who identified as Democrat said they would return to dining in restaurants immediately or soon after, compared with 66% of Republicans and 58% of respondents who don’t identify with a political party.
Democrats were more likely to say they would move more cautiously in each surveyed category, from heading to the movies to sending their kids back to school.
Immediately was defined as “within days” and soon after defined as “within weeks.”
Men quicker to jump back in
The poll suggests men are more willing than women to jump back into activities. The biggest differences come in comfort heading to sporting events and gyms.
About 41% of men in the survey said they would head to a sporting event within days or weeks of reopening, compared with 29% of women.
Likewise, 52% of men said they would head to the gym within days or weeks, compared with 40% of women.
Some 18% of women and 15% of men said they were comfortable immediately sending kids back to school. The poll found 37% of women and 38% of men said it would be months before they would be comfortable returning kids to classrooms.
Education, income affect views
Education and income also affected the responses.
People with master’s and other graduate degrees were far more likely to say it could take months for them to feel comfortable going out to restaurants; 46% compared with 29% among the general population.
Higher income earners were far more likely to say it could be months before they are comfortable resuming public activities. Some 73% of respondents earning more than $150,000 annually said they would not feel comfortable returning to sporting events for months. That compares with 48% of the general population, the poll shows.
Respondents who identified as Asian American or Pacific Islander were the most cautious about returning to restaurants. Just more than a third said they would return within days or weeks, compared with about half of other ethnic groups.
Generational differences
The youngest respondents, ages 1824, were the most likely to say they feel comfortable immediately returning to movie theaters, sporting events and gyms.
Gen X’ers between the ages of 4554 were the most likely to say they would immediately feel comfortable returning to restaurants, bars, offices and sending kids to school.
Baby Boomers, who fall into the 65 and over age group that is more vulnerable to COVID-19, were the most likely to say they would immediately return to religious services, according to the poll.
Some 40% of respondents across age groups said it would take them months or longer to feel comfortable returning to gyms. Younger respondents in the 18-24 age range were the exception as only 28% said it would take them months to hit the gym again.
Teresa Valadez and her adult daughters Melissa and Gina Santangelo, both in their early 30s, got together Thursday for takeout from Chula Seafood on the lawn in Uptown Plaza. It was only the second time they’ve done so since the public health crisis struck more than two months ago.
Gina Santangelo said she has grown accustomed to working from home. She’s forgotten her wallet or her phone the few times she has gone out, she said.
“Adjusting to going back out will take some time,” she said and added that she’ll be enjoying home-cooked meals and staying away from the gym for just a bit longer.
Melissa Santangelo said she is more open to going out with precautions. Her gym offers small group classes and staff sanitizes the room between sessions. She’s comfortable dining out but won’t be going to a crowded bar anytime soon, she said.
Their mom will wait. Valadez cares for her parents, who are in their 80s, and doesn’t want to risk getting sick and exposing them.
“I’m overly cautious,” she said.
The questions are part of a larger Morrison-Arizona Republic poll of quality-of-life issues.
The Morrison-Republic poll was in the field from April 24 through May 7. It included 813 Arizona residents census balanced by age, gender, ethnicity, and location. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.