Poll: 6 in 10 Americans concerned country will move too fast to reopen amid the coronavirus crisis

The majority of Americans are concerned that the federal and state governments will move too fast to end lockdowns put in place to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

According to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday, 58 per cent of Americans feel the U.S. will start to reopen the country too quickly as the federal government implemented a plan to begin kickstarting the economy and ending lockdowns.

Another 32 per cent say they feel the opposite, and believe the U.S. will take too long to loosen restrictions placed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Seven per cent of the 900 registered voters surveyed April 13-15 said they are unsure of how they feel about the timeline and 3 per cent say they feel the country will move too quickly in some senses and too slowly in other ways.

The poll comes as anti-lockdown protests have broken out across the country.

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs or been furloughed as states went on lockdown and issued stay-at-home orders, causing all non-essential businesses to close operation and restaurants were forced to operate only on a delivery and take-out basis

It also was taken at the same time Trump was assembling a team to release guidelines on reopening the country after he conceded it was up to governors to decide when their respective states are ready to end stay-at-home orders and loosen social distancing guidelines.

Views on reopen also varies significantly between the parties, with 77 per cent of registered Democrats expressing concern that the country could move to reopen prematurely and only 39 per cent of Republican voicing the same worries.

On the other hand, 48 per cent of Republicans predict the U.S. will take too long to end lockdowns and stay-at-home orders compared to the 19 per cent of Democrats who feel the same.

This is exhibited in the nation-wide demonstrations, which broke out last week, as a vast-majority have identified themselves as Republican or Trump supporters.

Hoards of protesters, usually not practicing social distancing, descended on state capitals to urge governors to reopen states and allow businesses to operate.

Trump is eager to reopen the country and has a self-set goal goal for May 1, which is when the White House’s expanded social distancing guidelines are set to expire.

Protesters hold have march and chanted against lockdowns, claiming it’s government overreach.

One particular demonstration in Colorado, titled ‘Operation Gridlock,’ came to a head Sunday when protesters clashed with healthcare workers.

A group of healthcare workers stood in the street to counter-protest the calls for re-opening, silently obstructing cars as they drove down towards Colorado’s Capitol building.

Trump is eager to get the nation off lockdown and kickstart the economy, and has self-imposed a deadline of May 1, but conceded it’s up to the states to decide when to end their social distancing orders

Other demonstrations were held Sunday in Tennessee, Oregon, Illinois, California, Montana and Washington State – but there have been other protests throughout the week in places like Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas and more.

Some claimed early on that anti-coronavirus lockdown demonstrations were only happening in states with Democratic governors, which soon proved to be false after Texas, the most populous red state, experienced a slew of protests.

Trump has expressed his support for the protesters, tweeting last week that three governors, from Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia, should ‘LIBERATE’ their states.

The president also asserted at a White House coronavirus press briefing that the protests were peaceful and falsely claimed that demonstrators were practicing social distancing.