A new poll shows almost half of American adults are worried that the CDC’s new relaxed masking guidance will increase the number of deaths in their community and prevent them from accessing needed medical care—creating a dilemma for employers as they consider relaxed workplace rules.
The new CDC guidance relaxes masking rules, and places more than 70% of the U.S. population in counties where COVID poses a low or medium risk to hospitals.
According to the guidance:
- If you are in a low-risk county, you don’t need to wear a mask;
- If you are in a medium-risk level county and at high risk for illness, you should consult with your health care provider and consider wearing a mask; and
- If you are in a high-risk county, you should wear a mask in indoor public settings, including schools.
But much of the public is not so sure. According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 61% of adults are worried about immune-compromised people being left behind due to their increased risk of getting sick while 49% are worried there will be an increased number of deaths in their community if the government lifts pandemic restrictions. And 48% are worried that they personally wouldn’t be able to get needed medical care because local hospitals could be again overwhelmed if restrictions are relaxed.
Balancing employee concerns on both sides of the issue will be tricky, particularly in those states that are dropping masking requirements for all venues. Moreover, some employers are relaxing masking requirements to provide an incentive for employees to return to the office, while others are not. However, should cases spike again, employers that move quickly could risk a backlash from a sizable number of their employees.
When will the “return to normal” be? Almost half of U.S. adults think it will be safe for most people to resume their normal pre-pandemic activities by late spring or sooner, including 35% who say it is safe to do so now. However, 26% of adults say it will be at least another year or longer before it will be safe for most people to resume normal pre-pandemic activities and those employees are likely to oppose dropping masking requirements at work.