Amid sporadic mass protests increasingly popping up in states where coronavirus ‘stay an home’ orders and restrictions have been particularly draconian, Michigan first among them, it appears a sign Americans will get increasingly fed up the longer that lockdowns and corresponding economic ‘pauses’ continue.

A new Hill-HarrisX poll confirms as much, as The Hill reports, “More than 7 in 10 voters fear losing freedoms due to the coronavirus pandemic, though exposure to the virus topped concerns overall, according to a poll released Monday.”

In total 74% are ultimately more worried about the government taking away their rights amid the pandemic.

However, the majority of those registered voters surveyed still consider the threat from coronavirus to be grave and serious, with 83% saying they are worried about exposure, and with 73% reporting concern over potential hospitalization.

The poll further found that 48% are worried about losing their jobs, and 35% fear having to re-locate as a result of the pandemic.

The numbers of Americans who increasingly see the curtailment of civil liberties as a prime threat is consistent with a separate poll produced by Pew Research in mid-March. That poll found 62% of Americans believe the media has likely exaggerated the risk of COVID-19.

Thus the same majority is likely to see police and state enforcement of social distancing measures a severe overstep in authority.

Hill.TV cited Editor-in-chief at Gallup Mohamed Younis, to say polls are increasingly reflecting this as a prime factor. “I think that’s going to be one of the really important crossovers in the post-COVID era, between civil rights and public health,” Younis said.

It’s as yet unclear the degree to which a sense of ‘normalcy’ will indeed return and how fast once economies open back up, given it’s still likely many Americans will initially stay home, fearing a renewed explosion of cases, as is happening in places like Singapore.

But increasingly, many Americans in the central and southern states have begun to question whether the fate of their states and local communities should be dictated by the more dire circumstances of large cities on the East and West coasts – where case numbers have been soaring.

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