Many Americans say they have shifted their priorities around health and social activities during COVID-19

The coronavirus outbreak has transformed many aspects of public life since 2020, including how Americans work, go to school and attend religious services. More recently, restrictions on public activities in many places have been lifted, and Americans are increasingly more comfortable with returning to normal activities.

To gain insight into how Americans view the impact of COVID-19 in their lives, a recent Pew Research Center survey asked respondents to describe – in their own words – what rose and fell in importance to them during the pandemic. (A random subset of survey respondents described what has become more important to them and another random subset described what has become less important.)

For many Americans, the pandemic – which has taken more than a million lives in the United States alone – has brought a new sense of trade-offs between protecting one’s health and participating in social activities as part of daily life. Here are some of the key themes that emerged in Americans’ open-ended responses.