More COVID-19 testing, and for a majority, keep the masks on.
That’s according to the Truth in Medicine Poll released Thursday by Mount Sinai South Nassau.
Conducted Jan. 4-9, the phone survey generated responses from 600 residents on Long Island and in New York City.
More than 60 percent of residents in the region support mask-wearing in private businesses, theaters, schools, courthouses and places of worship, according to the poll.
And when it comes to testing for COVID-19, New Yorkers want more from the government.
“The lack of available testing has been an Achilles’ heel of the COVID-19 response since Day One of the pandemic,” Dr. Adhi Sharma, president of Mount Sinai South Nassau, said in a statement.
“More testing enables those who suspect they may have been exposed to get information, stay home if they have a positive result, and help stop the spread to others,” he added.
The poll was conducted before the federal government began its campaign to distribute free test kits. During the survey, however, more than 80 percent said the government should improve its ability to make COVID-19 testing available to the public.
Meanwhile 63 percent expected the pandemic to last another year, and 80 percent support the offering of new antiviral pills and medicines to all patients with COVID-19 rather than prioritizing them for the unvaccinated.
And many are putting off well-visits.
Overall, 79 percent of adult respondents say they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. About one-half of those vaccinated have also received a booster, accounting for 40 percent of the region’s total adult population. Those who are still unvaccinated are likely to remain unvaccinated, the poll found.
“We still have more work to do to educate why people should receive a booster vaccine and to get their children vaccinated,” Dr. Aaron Glatt, MD, chair of Medicine and Chief of Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau, said in a statement. “Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic.”
