Name: New survey reveals how Michiganders feel about masks, Whitmer
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New survey reveals how Michiganders feel about masks, Whitmer

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Detroit Free Press Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is doing a good job.Schools should close for face-to-face instruction.And the vast majority of Michiganders are wearing masks when they go out.All this according to a new survey from the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project, a large-scale study of the American electorate that, throughout the 2020 election cycle, aims to conduct 500,000 interviews about policies and the presidential candidates.The survey was collected&nbsp;between June 11 and July 15. The margin of error for Michigan results is&nbsp;plus or minus 5 percentage points. National results have a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage points.According to an analysis by&nbsp;Nationscape Insights, a project of the Democracy Fund, UCLA and USA Today:&nbsp;&nbsp;Despite protests and a movement to strip her of some of her emergency powers,&nbsp;Whitmer gets good marks when it comes to handling the coronavirus crisis:&nbsp;63% of the Michigan residents surveyed said they strongly approve or somewhat approve of&nbsp;her actions while 31% said they somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove.In neighboring Ohio, 75% of residents said they strongly approve&nbsp;or somewhat approve&nbsp;of their governor's handling of the pandemic. Last week Gov. Mike DeWine mandated that residents wear masks in all indoor locations.And in New York, 73% said they strongly approve&nbsp;or somewhat approve&nbsp;of the job that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doing.&nbsp;In Arizona, 40% strongly or somewhat approved of job Gov. Doug Ducey 's handling of the crisis.&nbsp;Nationwide, 60% of&nbsp;Americans say they strongly approve or somewhat approve of their governor's handling of the pandemic.&nbsp;As for President Donald Trump, 41% of Michigan residents in this 2020 election battleground state strongly approve or somewhat approve of his handling of the coronavirus. Nationally, 40% of Americans somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove.Trump is threatening to withhold federal aid to schools that don't open for in-person classes, putting him in disagreement with a majority of residents, both in Michigan and nationwide, according to the survey.Earlier this month,&nbsp;employees, parents and students sued the Detroit Public Schools Community District, saying that face-to-face summer school classes are&nbsp;unsafe and need to be shut down. Last week,&nbsp;U.S. District Court Judge Arthur&nbsp;Tarnow ordered the district must test all summer school students for&nbsp;COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, and abide by safety rules. At least two students have tested positive for COVID-19.The American Academy of Pediatrics&nbsp;— along with teachers unions and the AASA, the School Superintendents Association —&nbsp;have said that students do best in classrooms where lessons are taught face-to face. But they also have said that&nbsp;science needs to guide the nation when it comes to deciding how to conduct classes in the fall.Already districts in Ann Arbor and Lansing are planning to start the year with virtual classrooms.What do Michiganders think?&nbsp;When it comes to closing down schools or universities,&nbsp;62% of Michigan residents who took part in the survey strongly support or somewhat support closing them.&nbsp;Nationally, 65% of those surveyed strongly support or somewhat support closing schools and&nbsp;universities.Harper's Restaurant &amp; Brew Pub in East Lansing reopened in June after months of shutdown.&nbsp;Crowds gathered, ignoring masks and social distancing. The result: More than 180 cases of COVID-19 linked to a night at the bar.Other cases have been traced back to other bars.&nbsp;With COVID-19 cases rising, Whitmer earlier this month ordered that most lower Michigan bars close for indoor service. It's patio service only.And Michigan residents support her decision. According to Nationscape Insights, 64% of Michiganders surveyed strongly support or somewhat support the closing of businesses where a large number of people&nbsp;gather, including bars, restaurants and theaters.Nationally, 70% of respondents support the closings.Meanwhile, when asked whether they'd socialized with people not living in their households while maintaining social distancing, within the last week,&nbsp;74% of Michigan residents surveyed said they had.&nbsp;(Nationally,&nbsp;64% of Americans said they'd done the same thing.)At the same time, 38% of Michigan residents said they didn't follow social distancing rules while spending time with people they don't live with. (Nationally, 33% said they had socialized without socially distancing.)In May, a security guard at a Flint dollar store was shot and killed after he refused to let in a customer who wasn't wearing a mask.Earlier this month, a 77-year-old Lansing man was stabbed at a convenience store after getting into a confrontation with a Grand Ledge man who wasn't wearing a mask. The man without a mask was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy.&nbsp;The man who was stabbed survived. Also this month, a Kalkaska man allegedly pulled a knife on a Meijer employee who asked him to mask up.Meanwhile, several law enforcement agencies are refusing to enforce Whitmer's mandatory mask order. Van Buren County&nbsp;Sheriff Daniel Abbott has said he will not enforce it. The Macomb County Sheriff's Department has said it won't issue citations to people who refuse to mask up. The Livingston County Sheriff Department has said the same thing.And yet, when asked whether they'd worn a mask while going out in the last week,&nbsp;92% of the Michigan respondents said they had.Nationally, 89% said they'd worn a mask&nbsp;Nationscape Insights will continue to provide analysis throughout the election season.

Detroit Free Press Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is doing a good job.Schools should close for face-to-face instruction.And the vast majority of Michiganders are wearing masks when they go out.All this according to a new survey from the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project, a large-scale study of the American electorate that, throughout the 2020 election cycle, aims to conduct 500,000 interviews about policies and the presidential candidates.The survey was collected&nbsp;between June 11 and July 15. The margin of error for Michigan results is&nbsp;plus or minus 5 percentage points. National...

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The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primarily serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Monroe counties.  The Free Press is also the largest city newspaper owned by Gannett, which also publishes USA Today. The Free Press has received ten Pulitzer Prizes and four Emmy Awards. Its motto is "On Guard for 189 Years".

New survey reveals how Michiganders feel about masks, Whitmer

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