Survey: 74% of Americans plan to require masks at holiday gatherings

Seventy-four percent of Americans participating in a survey conducted for American Family Care said they plan to require masks at holiday gatherings.

More than 90% of the 435 people surveyed across the country said they plan to spend the holidays with family or friends in group settings, and 75% expressed concern about getting sick over the holidays.

Sixty-eight percent said they were most worried about COVID-19, but almost just as many were concerned about the flu (67%) and the common cold (65%).

About 49% said they plan to wear a mask at holiday gatherings. Of those, 85% said the reason they will wear a mask is because it’s the right thing to do to stay healthy and keep others healthy. Fifty-three percent said they don’t want to get sick themselves, and 46% said they don’t want to get others sick. Twenty percent chose all of those answers as their reason for wearing a mask.

For the 51% who said they don’t plan to wear a mask at holiday gatherings, 70% said the reason they won’t is because they find masks uncomfortable. Sixty-one percent said they don’t believe masks work to protect themselves or others, and 31% said they don’t like how they look wearing a mask.

Thirty-nine percent said they expect some family members or friends to disagree about mask wearing, and 69% of those who said they will ask people to wear masks at gatherings said they expect their family or friends to complain.

Who is most likely to complain about being asked to wear a mask? Thirty-six percent said their wives, while 26% said their kids, 16% said their husbands, 9% said their parents, 8% said their relatives and 6% said their friends.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents said that if someone makes masks mandatory at a holiday gathering, they would still attend, but 31% said they would not.

About 50% said they planned to get both a flu shot and COVID-19 booster before attending holiday gatherings, while 22% said they planned to get only a flu shot, 5% said they planned to get only a COVID-19 booster, and 23% said they were getting neither type of shot.

Fifty-seven percent said the threat of illnesses has hurt the holiday spirit this season, and when asked who is likely to be the biggest whiners if they get sick this holiday season, 31% said their kids, 26% said their husband, 16% said themselves, 14% said their parents, and 13% said their wife.

Thirty-six percent of survey respondents said if they get sick during the holiday season, they would join holiday gatherings anyway. Of those, 53% said they would do so because they have a lot to do for the holidays, and 47% said they would try to hide their illness because they don’t want to miss out or spoil the fun.

See the full results of the survery conducted for American Family Care here. The online survey was conducted by a third party commissioned by American Family Care, and survey participants had no affiliation with the company.

Meanwhile, transmission of the COVID-19 disease is low in both Jefferson and Shelby counties, according to calculations made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Dec. 15.

There were 128 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in Jefferson County and 115 cases per 100,000 people in Shelby County, according to the CDC. There were only 6.7 new COVID-19 admissions to hospitals per 100,000 people in both counties, and only 2.4% of staffed inpatient beds were filled with people with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the CDC said.

Fifty-two of Alabama’s 67 counties had low transmission rates, while nine counties showed medium transmission, and six counties (Butler, Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Marion and Winston counties showed high levels of transmission, according to the CDC.