More than eight in 10 voters, 81 percent, say Americans “should continue to social distance for as long as is needed to curb the spread of coronavirus, even if it means continued damage to the economy.” Only 10 percent say Americans “should stop social distancing to stimulate the economy, even if it means increasing the spread of coronavirus.” Nine percent of voters have no opinion.

While Democrats (89 percent) are more likely than Republicans (72 percent) to say Americans should continue the “social distancing” measures, large majorities in all demographic groups say it’s more important to stop the spread of the virus than to resume economic activity that could undermine those mitigation efforts.

The poll comes as Trump says he is plotting how and when to resume the economic activity paused a month ago, though public-health experts warn that any moves now would be premature. At a briefing at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said the plans to “reopening the country” would be finalized “soon.”

“It’s going to be very close, maybe even before the date of May 1st … for some states,” Trump said Tuesday. “Actually, there are over 20 [states] that are in extremely good shape. And we think we’re going to be able to get them open fairly quickly, and then others will follow.”

By a ratio of more than 2 to 1, voters say they are more concerned about “the public health impact of coronavirus, including the spread of the disease which would cause more deaths,” than they are about “the economic impact of coronavirus including the effect on the stock market and increased unemployment.” Overall, voters break toward the public-health impact, 64 percent to 29 percent — though it’s more narrow among Republicans, 51 percent to 43 percent.

Three in four, 75 percent, say it’s more important for the government to address the spread of the virus, while 17 percent say it’s more important for the government to manage the economy.

Voters are skeptical about their fellow Americans returning to work while the virus continues to ravage the nation, the poll shows. Just 37 percent would support allowing some Americans to return to work as long as the virus is still spreading, fewer than the 52 percent who would oppose Americans returning to work under those circumstances. And even fewer, 27 percent, would support allowing Americans under age 45 — who researchers say are less likely to die from Covid-19 — to work while older Americans continue to stay home.

But majorities do want returning workers to take significant precautions if they do go back: 76 percent would support their testing negative for the virus before being allowed to work again, 60 percent say they should take an antibody test to determine whether they’ve been exposed to the virus, and 76 percent support workers’ being required to wear face masks.

“Public trust in the safety of interacting with other Americans is a necessary precondition for being able to reignite the U.S. economy,” said John Leer, an economist for Morning Consult. “If Americans believe that their eating at restaurants or spending time in an airport jeopardizes their safety, loosening restrictions on businesses is not a sustainable economic solution.”

While many are warning that a prolonged economic shutdown could represent a fiscal calamity for the U.S., the economic effects have been felt by only a minority of voters so far. Nineteen percent say they or someone in their household has been laid off or lost their job over the past month and a half, while 34 percent say they or someone in their household has lost income.

Trump continues to earn mixed marks for his handling of the crisis. His overall approval rating is 45 percent — up a point from last week — with 52 percent of voters disapproving of his job performance.

Half of voters, 50 percent, say the Trump administration is not doing enough to confront the outbreak, unchanged from last week. Around four in 10 — 39 percent — say the administration is doing enough, while 3 percent say it is doing too much.