As we approach the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the United States before claiming the lives of over a million residents, the Pew Research Center has released data on how the public now views the pandemic.

Despite a few weeks of national unity at the beginning of the pandemic, almost three-quarters (72%) of Americans believe the pandemic drove the country apart. Slightly more than a tenth of persons surveyed (11%) said it brought the country together, with 16% saying it had little effect either way.

A quarter of respondents (25%) said the pandemic did not affect their personal lives at all. Of the 75% who said it did, most (68%) said they have recovered from the pandemic’s challenges, with 6% saying they have not.

More than half of Americans (56%) believe COVID-19 is not something we should worry about anymore, with 39% saying we aren’t taking it seriously enough. As with most public opinion subjects, these views have a significant partisan disparity. 

For Republicans, 76% believe it is no longer something we should worry about, with 20% saying we don’t take it seriously enough. For Democrats, only 36% think we shouldn’t worry about it any longer, and 60% say it isn’t taken seriously enough.

One of the lasting images of the pandemic was the widespread use of facemasks in public. That has largely disappeared, with only 4% surveyed saying they still wear them.

The analysis also looked at how Americans currently view Donald Trump’s and Biden’s responses to the pandemic, where the country stands on vaccines, and sentiment around measures such as school closures that were taken to slow the early spread of the virus.

Pew’s data and links to their methodology can be found here.