{"id":9980,"date":"2020-05-13T10:00:20","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T15:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/44-of-americans-say-they-talk-about-the-coronavirus-outbreak-most-or-almost-all-of-the-time\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T01:15:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T06:15:19","slug":"44-of-americans-say-they-talk-about-the-coronavirus-outbreak-most-or-almost-all-of-the-time","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/05\/13\/44-of-americans-say-they-talk-about-the-coronavirus-outbreak-most-or-almost-all-of-the-time\/","title":{"rendered":"44% of Americans say they talk about the coronavirus outbreak most or almost all of the time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Women talk in New York City’s Bryant Park while wearing protective masks on May 7. (Noam Galai\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

Most Americans say they need to take breaks from COVID-19 news<\/a>. But that doesn\u2019t mean they are avoiding the topic completely. In fact, 44% of U.S. adults say they are discussing the coronavirus outbreak<\/a> with other people most or almost all of the time, whether online, in person or over the phone, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 20 to 26.<\/p>\n\n

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Want to see more data on these questions?<\/h4>\n\n

To analyze these survey questions by additional demographic characteristics and media habits, visit the data tool.<\/a><\/p>\n\n

The outbreak has had far-reaching effects on daily life in the United States, so it may not come as a surprise that it is such a frequent subject of discussion for many Americans. In early April, more than four-in-ten adults (43%) said they or someone in their household had lost their job or taken a pay cut due to the outbreak<\/a>, while around a quarter (24%) said they were very concerned about contracting the virus and requiring hospitalization<\/a>. The widespread stay-at-home orders that have resulted from the outbreak have upended more regular aspects of life, too, from the way Americans worship<\/a> to how they shop for food<\/a> and socialize with their friends and family<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Overall, 31% of adults say they are discussing the outbreak with other people most of the time, while another 13% say they are talking about it almost all the time, according to the late April survey, which was conducted as part of the Center\u2019s American News Pathways project<\/a>. The largest share of Americans (45%) say they sometimes<\/em> discuss the coronavirus outbreak with other people, while 11% say they hardly ever or never discuss it with others.<\/p>\n\n

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How we did this<\/div>