A new poll asked people what percentage of people in their country have contracted the coronavirus or died from it. The average percentage is shown for each.
Poll Question: How many people in your country have had COVID-19?
Americans Answered: 20%
Reality: 1%
Poll Question: How many people in your country have died from COVID-19?
Americans Answered: 9%
Reality: 0.04%
In other words, Americans believe 225 times more people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19 that actually have.
And it’s not much better overseas. People in France, Sweden, and the UK all believed around one hundred times more people died in their country than the actual rate, and people in Denmark were off by 300 times.
These perceptions are impacting consumer behavior, voter sentiment, and attitudes about how strict shutdowns and other restrictions should be.