However, 58 percent of Americans said Trump was initially “too slow to take action to address the problem,” while 38 percent said he “acted with the right amount of speed” and 4 percent had no opinion on the issue.

Trump was widely criticized as the deadly outbreak first began spreading in the U.S. for repeatedly minimizing its threat to the country, and his administration struggled to mount a comprehensive testing operation to better thwart the rapid spread of infection.

The president pivoted to a more dire brand of messaging last week as he announced a 15-day period of recommended social distancing to help combat the disease, but he has hinted in recent days that he could soon move to wind down such mitigation measures in an effort to reopen the economy by Easter.

Friday’s survey also shows that Trump’s overall job approval rating now rests at 48 percent, with 46 percent disapproving — the first time in ABC News/Washington Post polling that more Americans approve of the president’s performance than those who do not since he took office. Six percent had no opinion on the way Trump is handling his job as president.

Other recent surveys have also shown a similar uptick in the president’s ratings, while voters remain mostly split on his handling of the outbreak. According to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday, overall approval of Trump’s job performance increased from 43 percent to 45 percent in the previous week, with 52 percent still disapproving.

And a Fox News poll published on Thursday reports that overall approval of Trump’s job performance improved by 1 point since February, with 48 percent now approving and 51 percent disapproving.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted March 22-25, surveying 1,003 adults. Its margin of sampling error is plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points.