Nearly two-thirds of Americans fear it will be unsafe to send children back to school this year, according to a new poll for the Financial Times that showed deepening pessimism about the course of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.
The concerns over the safety of school reopenings are part of a broader sense of unease that has gripped American voters with just three months until November’s presidential election.
The monthly survey of likely voters for the FT and the Peter G Peterson Foundation found that 64 per cent were not confident it will be safe for elementary, middle and high schools in their state to reopen in the autumn owing to outbreaks of coronavirus.
Women were more likely to express concern than men and respondents were sharply divided along party lines. Nearly nine in 10 Democrats said they were not confident about school reopenings, compared with almost four in 10 Republicans.