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Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Majorities in the United States and Britain disapprove of their country's handling of COVID-19 unlike most advanced economies, a Pew Research Center poll out Thursday showed. In the United States, 52% said their country has done a bad job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, according to the poll. In Britain, 54% of people surveyed said the same.
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The poll showed a partisan divide in both countries. In the United States, 76 percent of Republicans or Independents leaning Republican said the country has done a good job compared to only a quarter of Democrats or Independents leaning Democratic. In Britain, 55% of right-leaning Britons said the the country was doing a good job compared with 26% on the left.
The Pew Research Center surveyed 14 countries with advanced economies for the survey. With the exception of the United States and Britain, majorities of all other countries said that their countries had done a good job dealing with COVID-19. Other countries surveyed included Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, Australia, South Korea and Japan.
"Overall, a median of 73% across the nations say their country has done a good job of handling novel coronavirus, which has reached nearly every corner of the globe," the statement said.
The United States had the largest partisan divide in the number of people who said the number of COVID-19 cases would have been lower if their country cooperated more with other countries followed by Britain. Those leaning to the left politically were more likely than those leaning to the right in both countries to say the number would have declined if their country would have cooperated more with other countries.
The virus has infected over 24 million people worldwide and killed over 800,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University global tracker.
The United States has the highest number of cases and deaths worldwide at over 5.8 million cases and over 180,000 deaths, the same global tracker shows. It is also the only advanced economy out of the 14, in the top 10 for number of cases per 1 million population worldwide, according to Worldometer.
Along with the United States, Belgium, Spain, Britain, Italy, and Sweden also have the top 10 death rates per 1 million population worldwide, the Worldometer shows.
The Pew Research Center poll showed that Denmark had the highest percentage of people who approved of how their country has handled COVID-19 at 95%. Denmark also had the highest rate of people, 72%, who said their country is more united now than before the outbreak.
By contrast, 77% in the United States said the country is more divided now than before the outbreak.
In Britain, opinion was split with 46% saying the country was more divided and 46% percent saying it was more united.
Overall, a median of 48% said their country was more divided now than before the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 46% who said their country was more united.
