Poll: More in U.S. say COVID-19 is the nation's top problem

Aug. 21 (UPI) -- More Americans are saying COVID-19 is the most important problem in the United States right now, topping issues like government, economic hardship and racism, a Gallup survey showed Friday.

The poll, part of Gallup's Social Series, showed 35% of U.S. adults said the coronavirus pandemic is their chief concern -- a 5% increase over the previous survey last month and 15 points higher than the figure from early June.

About one in five respondents said the government and poor leadership is their top concern.

The share of Americans who identified race relations as the top issue (10%) fell by nearly half over the past two months.

Economic problems -- including unemployment, the wealth gap and corporate corruption -- was cited by 12% as the main concern, down 7 points since June.

Overall satisfaction with the direction of the United States remains at 13%, the same share from the last survey. The figure is the lowest in nine years.

Gallup said its economic confidence index this month (-16) is essentially unchanged from last month's reading (-15). The mark is well below February's index (+41), which was the highest Gallup had measured in 20 years.

Gallup polled more than 1,000 U.S. adults for the survey, which has a margin of error of 4 points.