A new survey from DHM Research shows that Oregonians overwhelmingly support Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order.
The survey, which polled 900 Oregonians from April 17 to 21, concluded that 82% of Oregonians are in favor of the governor’s coronavirus mitigation measures that have shut down much of Oregon since March 23.
“Support is wide and deep,” DHM wrote about these findings. “It cuts across geography, political party, and among those most financially harmed by the lockdowns.”
That feeling was strongest in the Willamette Valley, where 85% of respondents supported the measures, and in the Portland metro area, where 84% supported them. But in the rest of the state, support was also high -- 75%.
The positive response to the orders also cuts across party lines. It includes 95% of Democrats, 72% of Republicans and 77% of others.
Even people who have lost jobs or income support staying at home -- according to DHM, 83% of those people support the orders.
The DHM survey also found Oregonians believe that reopening can happen only when cases are declining, widespread testing is available and the state has enough hospital beds and effective treatments available.
“We asked Oregonians if they would support or oppose allowing places to re-open if a number of conditions are met,” DHM wrote in the findings.
The agency found that 74% said they would support allowing places to re-open if “widespread COVID-19 testing is available and the number of positive cases declines for 14 consecutive days.”
If Oregon proves to have enough hospital beds and staff and protective equipment to keep hospital workers safe, 67% support reopening.
And 63% said they would support reopening if effective coronavirus treatments were available “even if the virus continues to spread in Oregon.”
The survey also found that Oregonians don’t support reopening businesses based on date or unemployment rates, though some Oregonians have staged vocal protests of Brown’s order.
“Just 43% said that they would support re-opening by January 1, 2021, no matter what,” DHM wrote, “and even fewer (33%) supported re-opening June 1, 2020, not matter what."
“Similarly,” the agency added, “only 34% support re-opening if Oregon’s unemployment rate is 15% or higher.”
The margin of error, according to DHM, is ±3.3% for the full sample and ±4.4% for the split samples where respondents were asked questions that were randomly assigned to half the group.
Brown is working on a plan to lift the order but modeling suggests it may still be weeks before any relaxation of the rules is safe.
DHM plans to release more survey results in the coming days.
-- Lizzy Acker
503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker
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