Prominent Democrats join Republicans in opposition to COVID-19 lockdowns

After nearly two years of partisan divides over COVID-19 lockdowns, some Democrats are pushing to end, or limit lockdowns, despite the surge of Covid cases.

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) is in a stand-off with the city’s teachers’ union; Lightfoot believes that in-person classes should resume for Chicago schools, however the union disagrees. In New York, Democratic leaders have also pushed for schools to remain open despite surging COVID-19 cases. 

In Colorado, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis last month declared that vaccines mean “the end of the medical emergency.” In California, Democratic leaders say the Super Bowl will continue without attendance restrictions in Los Angeles next month.

In North Carolina, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper says we “have to learn how to live with it, and continue to keep our kids in school and our businesses open.” 

Many Democrats continue to encourage vaccination, but few are resorting to lockdown measures. Several reports have mentioned how people are worn out by COVID-19’s impact on their lives; public opinion data that suggests people are less worried about the Omicron variant; and concerns that the public health benefits of lockdowns were outweighed by negative effects on the economy and mental health, particularly for children. 

Six in ten Americans feel worn out by pandemic-related changes they have had to make to their daily lives over the past 20 months. This includes 36% who feel worn out a lot and 24% who feel worn out a little.

The poll also finds that nearly half of the public feels angry about how Covid has impacted their daily lives, 24% a lot and 21% a little. Republicans (64%) are no more likely than Democrats (63%) to say they feel at least a little worn out by pandemic-related changes to their lives, but they are much more likely to report feeling angry (63% and 34%, respectively). (Monmouth University Poll).