Party Like It's 2019? Some Americans Aren't Ready Yet

More than three years after the emergence of Covid-19, most Americans have returned to their pre-pandemic lifestyles, enjoying many of the little pleasures they had missed for so long: going to restaurants with friends, seeing their favorite band perform live or visiting a sporting event. And yet, even after the WHO and the CDC declared the end of the Covid-19 health emergency last month, some Americans remain uncomfortable doing these things, as three years of carefully avoiding mass gatherings and social events have left their mark.

According to Morning Consult, who have been tracking Americans’ comfort levels with certain leisure activities for the past three years, almost 8 in 10 Americans are now comfortable visiting a restaurant, compared to 6 in 10 two years ago. When it comes to larger gatherings, such as concerts or sporting events, doubts still linger in the back of many people’s minds, however, as just 60 percent of U.S. adults said they were comfortable doing either of the two in May 2023.

With Covid-19 still around and the memory of relatives in hospital beds still fresh, it is understandable that some people take more time than others to put the pandemic behind them. Time has a tendency to heal all wounds though, and so hopefully, if Covid cases continue to recede and bad memories fade, more people will be able to return to normal.