As the coronavirus pandemic circles the world, public health officials and other authorities have implored people to avoid crowds and keep their distance from one another. But viral stories of parties on Bourbon Street, pub crawls at Irish bars and packed beaches in Florida make clear these messages often fall on deaf ears.
There are many reasons people might not be heeding experts’ advice, from the overconfidence of youth to psychological denial to exposure to misinformation. But several polls released over the past few weeks suggest that a partisan divide might be partly to blame. CONT.
Jay J. Van Bavel (NYU), Washington Post