Coronavirus Response: Hospitals Rated Best, News Media Worst

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans are generally positive in their evaluations of how each of nine leaders and institutions has handled the response to the coronavirus situation. Eight of the nine receive majority positive ratings -- led by U.S. hospitals, at 88% approval. Only the news media gets a more negative than positive review.

These data are from a March 13-22 Gallup poll, with the field period starting on the same day President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus outbreak, and spanning sharp increases in the number of documented cases in the U.S., as well as the number of deaths.

About four in five Americans approve of the way their state government and government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health are handling the coronavirus outbreak. Similarly, 83% of parents of children younger than 18 rate their children's school or daycare positively for its handling of the situation. And 82% of U.S. workers rate their employer's response positively.

Meanwhile, about six in 10 U.S. adults approve of the response by their elected leaders in Washington: President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and the U.S. Congress as a whole.

Trump's 60% approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus is higher than his 49% overall job rating, meaning that a substantial percentage of Americans approve of his handling of the current health crisis while disapproving of his performance more generally.