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White, conservative, Republican, Evangelical males not likely to wear COVID face coverings

White, conservative, Republican, Evangelical males not likely to wear COVID face coverings
Hispanic, liberal, Democratic, Baby boomers mask up

By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
July 25, 2020

As coronavirus spreads across America sending thousands to hospitals and other to morgues, a commonsensical precaution -- the face mask, coupled with social distancing -- has become polarized, politized, weaponized and even spiritualized. On Thursday (July 23) the United States passed another COVID-19 milestone -- four million confirmed cases, leading the world in known infections as well as the most COVID-related deaths. The number of lives being snuffed out is inching up towards 150,000 by the end of the month, reflecting the loss of husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors and colleagues.

At this point there is hardly an adult American who does not know of someone who has or had COVID-19 or has died from it.

THE POLITICAL CRISIS DEEPENS

Governors are suing mayors. Mayors are suing political parties. Businesses mandate masks and are implementing 'no shoes - no shirt - no masks - no service' policies. Customers are enraged and get violent in stores. Christians -- on both sides -- are proof texting to prove their points of view. People have thrown caution to the wind and are jamming beaches and bars, protesting and rioting, and ignoring that there is a deadly disease in full swing, making COVID-19 a behavior and activity-driven pandemic. Clergy are wringing their hands.

On Thursday (July 23) The Atlantic magazine's COVID-19 tracker listed 4,017,735 COVID cases, with more than 2.8 million hospitalizations, and climbing, since the coronavirus was first identified in the United States in mid-January 2020. Some COVID hospitalization bills have topped $1 million with hospitals being stretched to the breaking point. So far there have been at least 134,477 recorded deaths.

According to the CDC, the October 2019-April 2020 flu season saw an average of 35,520,880 million Americans coming down with the flu, sending 16,520,350 to the doctor and another 458,320 to the hospital.

However, only 37,239 died from this year's seasonal flu. The coronavirus is more than 3.5 times deadlier than th previous seasonal flu with triple digit death tolls climbing daily. At one point, New York state saw almost 800 deaths (799) in one day (April 9), the highest number of deaths in one 24-hour period.

THE BATTLE OF THE MASK

The battle over masking up rages on. Some see it as their Constitutionally protected right not to wear masks. Others see it as a public health issue to wear face coverings.

The mask issue has crept into news broadcasts, talk show monologues, political discussions, church sermons and arguments around the dinner table, resulting in fallings out between family members, friends and neighbors.

This is not the first time that there has been push back about wearing face masks during a raging pandemic. During the 1918-1919 Spanish flu, the Anti-Mask League was formed in San Francisco, California to protest the requirement for people to wear masks in public to help stem the tide of that pandemic. That pandemic saw 45,000 San Franciscans catch the disease with 3,500 dying from it. At the time, the city had about 480,000 residents.

In October 1918, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors mandated the wearing of masks due to the high number of Spanish flu sufferers in the city. The requirement was relaxed in November. But by January 1919, the Spanish flu was again running rampant in the city and the mask order was reinstated and the Anti-Mask League was immediately formed to counter act the "draconian measures" taken by the city.

Basically, the argument over face masks came down to one side seeing that the mask ordinance was based upon medical and scientific data, while others considered the mask up requirement an infringement of civil rights and personal liberties. Nothing has changed in 100 years; the mask war continues during another worldwide pandemic.

COVID-19 MASK POLL

Last week National Geographic put out a poll on who was and was not wearing face masks as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to explode across the United States. The results of a survey of 2200 adults is interesting and, in some cases, unexpected and surprising.

The polling was broken down into various categories including: sex; age, generation, employment, political party, political leaning, view of Trump, recent voting record, direction of the country, voter issues, religion, region, location, education, income, military connections and overall.

Those who seem to wear the mask the most while out in public include: Hispanics, women, Baby bombers, Democrats, liberals who voted for Clinton in the 2016 election, who voted Democrat in the 2018 midterms, are from the urban Northeast, strongly disapprove of Trump, think Trump is failing as president, who think the country is going in the wrong direction, are non-Christian with a post grad education, and retired with a yearly income more than $100,000.

Those who wear the mask the least while out in public include: whites, males, Gen Xers, Republicans, conservatives who voted for Trump in the 2016 election, people who voted Republican in the 2018 midterms, are from the rural Midwest, strongly approve of Trump, approve of the way Trump handles things, think the country is on the right track, are Evangelicals, who do not have a college education and work in other types of employment such as agriculture with a yearly income of less than $50,000.

~~THE MASK WEARERS~~

The percentage of people who wear masks. *Indicates those who wear the mask the most often.

Overall average: 60%

Sex: Men -- 56%; *women -- 64%.

Age: 18-34 -- 63%; 35-44% -- 53%; 45-64 -- 58%; and *65+ -- 66%.

Generation: *Gen Z (1997-2012) -- 64%; Millennials (1981-1996) -- 57%; Gen X (1965-1980) -- 55%; Baby boomers (1946-1964) -- 63%.

Employment: Private sector -- 63%; government -- 55%; self-employed -- 56%; homemaker -- 57%; *retired -- 65%; unemployed -- 55%; other types of employment -- 51%.

Ethnicity: White -- 58%; *Hispanic -- 72%; Black -- 67%; Indian, Asian, or mixed race -- 71%.

Political party: Democrats average -- 75%; Democratic men -- 70%; *Democratic women -- 78%.
Independents average -- 57%; Independent men -- 52%; Independent women -- 62%.
Republicans average -- 46%; Republican men 48%; Republican women -- 45%.

Political leaning: *Liberal -- 74%; moderate -- 64%; conservative -- 48%.

View of Trump job approval: Strongly approve -- 39%; somewhat approve -- 49%; somewhat disapprove -- 67%; *strongly disapprove -- 73%.

Personal opinion on Trump: Very favorable -- 42%; somewhat favorable -- 45%; somewhat unfavorable -- 67%; *very unfavorable -- 72%

Recent voting record:
2012 Presidential election: *Voted in for Obama in 2012 -- 74%; voted for Romney in 2012 -- 47%; voted for other candidates in 2012 -- 41%, did not vote in 2012 -- 57%.
2014 midterm elections: *Voted in 2014 midterm -- 62%; did not vote in 2014 midterm -- 57%.
2016 presidential election: *Voted for Clinton in 2016 -- 76%; voted for Trump in 2016 -- 46%; voted for other candidates in 2016 -- 66%; did not vote in 2016 -- 57%.
2018 midterm elections: *Voted for Democrats in 2018 midterm -- 76%; voted for Republicans in 2018 midterm -- 45%; voted for other candidates in 2018 midterm -- 54%.

Direction of the country: On track 47%; *wrong direction -- 64%

Voter issues: Economy -- 55%; security -- 49%; *health care and Medicare/Social Security -- 69%; women's issues -- 61%; education -- 65%; energy -- 59%; other issues -- 62%.

Religion: All Christians average -- 62%; all nonChristians average -- 69%; atheists -- 65%; *agnostics and NONES -- 69%; Roman Catholics -- 64%; non-Protestants -- 64%; Evangelicals 51%; nonEvangelicals -- 65%.

Region: *Northeast -- 75%; Midwest -- 49%; South -- 56%; West 65%.

Location: *City -- 70%; suburban -- 60%; rural -- 50%.

Education: No college degree -- 58%; college degree -- 65%; *post grad -- 67%.

Yearly income: Less than $50,000 -- 58%; $5-,000-$100,000 -- 61%; *more than $100,000 -- 66%.

Military connections: Yes -- 60%; no -- 60%.

~~SPORADIC MASK WEARS~~

The percentage of people who sometimes or occasionally wear masks.
Overall average: 25%

Sex: Men -- 27%; Women -- 23%.

Age: 18-34 -- 22%; 35-44 -- 28%; 45-64 -- 27%; and 65+ -- 24%.

Generation: Gen Z (1997-2012) -- 24%; Millennials (1981-1996) -- 23%; Gen X (1965-1980) -- 28%; Baby Boomers (1946-1964) 26%.

Employment: Private sector -- 23%; government -- 29%; self-employed -- 26%; -- homemaker -- 28%; retired -- 22%; unemployed -- 26%; other types of employment -- 31%.

Ethnicity: White -- 26%; Hispanic -- 20%; Black -- 23%; Indian, Asian, or mixed race -- 19%.

Political party: Democrats average -- 19%; Democratic men -- 20%; Democratic women -- 18%.
Independents average-- 28%; Independent men -- 31%; Independent women -- 24%.
Republicans average -- 30%; Republican men 28%; Republican women -- 32%.

Political leaning: Liberal -- 22%; moderate -- 22%; conservative -- 30%.

View of Trump job approval: Strongly approve -- 30%; somewhat approve -- 33%; somewhat disapprove -- 24%; strongly disapprove -- 21%.

Personal opinion on Trump: Very favorable -- 30%; somewhat favorable -- 34%; somewhat unfavorable -- 24%; very unfavorable -- 21%.

Recent voting record:
2012 Presidential election: Voted in for Obama in 2012 -- 30%; voted for Romney in 2012 -- 31%; voted for other candidates in 2012 -- 34%; did not vote in 2012 -- 26%.
2014 midterm elections: Voted in 2014 midterm -- 25%; did not vote in 2014 midterm -- 25%.
2016 presidential election: Voted for Clinton in 2016 -- 20%; voted for Trump in 2016 -- 31%; voted for other candidates in 2016 -- 21%, did not vote in 2016 -- 25%.
2018 midterm elections: Voted for Democrats in 2018 midterm -- 19%; voted for Republicans in 2018 midterm -- 31%; voted for other candidates in 2018 midterm -- 31%.

Direction of the country: On track -- 31%; wrong direction -- 23%.

Voter issues: Economy -- 28%; security -- 27%; health care -- 20%;
Medicare/Social Security -- 23%; women's issues -- 30%; education -- 26%; energy -- 26%; other issues -- 22%.

Religion: All Christians average -- 26%; all nonChristians average -- 23%; atheists -- 25%; agnostics -- 23%; NONES -- 23%; Roman Catholics -- 26%; non-Protestants -- 26%; Evangelicals 31%; nonEvangelicals -- 23%.

Region: Northeast -- 21%; Midwest -- 27%; South -- 27%; West -- 25%.

Location: City -- 19%; suburban -- 27%; rural -- 29%.

Education: No college degree -- 26%; college degree -- 24%; post grad -- 25%.

Yearly income: Less than $50,000 -- 26%; $50,000-$100,000 -- 25%; more than $100,000 --23%.

Military connections: Yes -- 26%; no -- 25%.

~~OPPOSED TO MASKS~~

The percentage of people who rarely or never wear masks. ^Indicates the highest percentage who do not wear masks.

Overall average: 15%

Sex: Men -- 18%; women -- 12%

Age: 18-34 -- 15%; ^35-44% -- 20%; 45-64 -- 15%; and 65+ -- 17%.

Generation: Gen Z (1997-2012) -- 12%; ^Millennials (1981-1996) -- 21%; Gen X (1965-1980) -- 17%; Baby Boomers (1946-1964) 12%.

Employment: Private sector -- 13%; government -- 15%; self-employed -- 18%; -- homemaker -- 15%; retired -- 13%; unemployed -- 18%; ^or other types of employment -- 20%.

Ethnicity: ^White -- 16%; Hispanic -- 8%; Black -- 10%; Indian, Asian, mixed race -- 10%.

Political party: Democrats average -- 7%; ^Democratic men -- 10%; Democratic women -- 5%.
Independents average -- 16%; ^Independent men -- 17%; Independent women -- 14%.
Republicans average -- 23%; ^Republican men 24%; ^Republican women -- 24%.

Political leaning: Liberal -- 4%; moderate -- 12%; conservative -- 22%.

View of Trump job approval: Strongly approve -- 30%; ^somewhat approve -- 33%; somewhat disapprove -- 24%; strongly disapprove -- 21%.

Personal opinion on Trump: ^Very favorable -- 31%; somewhat favorable -- 19%; somewhat unfavorable -- 9%; very unfavorable -- 6%.

Recent voting record:

2012 Presidential election: Voted in for Obama in 2012 -- 6%; voted for Romney in 2012 -- 23%; ^voted for other candidates in 2012 -- 24%, did not vote in 2012 -- 18%.
2014 midterm elections: Voted in 2014 midterm -- 13%; ^did not vote in 2014 midterm -- 17%.
2016 presidential election: Voted for Clinton in 2016 -- 4%; ^voted for Trump in 2016 -- 23%; voted for other candidates in 2016 -- 12%; did not vote in 2016 -- 18%.
2018 midterm elections: Voted for Democrats in 2018 midterm -- 4%; ^voted for Republicans in 2018 midterm -- 24%; voted for other candidates in 2018 midterm -- 16%.

Direction of the country: ^On track -- 22%; wrong direction -- 15%.

Voter issues: ^Economy -- 17%; security -- 24%; health care -- 11%
Medicare/Social Security -- 8%; women's issues -- 9%; education -- 9%; energy -- 15%; other issues -- 16%.

Religion: All Christians average -- 12%; all nonChristians average -- 8%, atheists -- 10%;^agnostics -- 16%; ^NONES -- 16%; Roman Catholics -- 10%; non-Protestants -- 10%; Evangelicals 19%; nonEvangelicals -- 13%.

Region: Northeast -- 4%; ^Midwest -- 23%; South -- 17%; West -- 12%.

Location: City -- 11%; suburban -- 13%; ^rural -- 20%.

Education: ^No college degree -- 16%; college degree -- 11%; post grad -- 8%.

Yearly income: ^Less than $50,000 -- 16%; $5-,000-$100,000 -- 14%; more than $100,000 --11%.

Military connections: Yes -- 15%; no -- 15%.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline

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