While a majority of Americans consider the coronavirus to be a natural disaster, poll results released Tuesday show 3 in 10 Americans blame China or Chinese people for the coronavirus outbreak.
The Center for Public Integrity/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,001 Americans between April 16-17.
The poll results indicate:
- 56% of Americans believe the coronavirus pandemic is a natural disaster.
- 44% of Americans say a specific group or organization is responsible with 66% of those surveyed mentioning China.
- 32% of Americans say they have witnessed someone blaming Asian people for the coronavirus epidemic.
The surge in anti-Asian bias may reflect a growing tendency to blame certain groups for the pandemic, Chris Jackson, head of public polling at Ipsos, told NBC News.
"The majority of people — a bare majority, but a majority — are still viewing the pandemic as a natural disaster," Jackson said. "We've not asked this particular question before, but we've asked similar questions, and that number is coming down. Earlier on, there was a much larger number of people who viewed it as a natural disaster."
The error of margin is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.