Poll: More than 3 in 4 Americans Want Ebola Travel Ban

More than three-quarters of Americans want an Ebola travel ban. 

An NPR/Truven Health poll found that 77% of Americans “believe the U.S. should take measures, such as suspending travel to affected areas, to prevent the spread of Ebola to the U.S.” 

Though Liberian immigrant Thomas Eric Duncan died after becoming the first person on American soil to be diagnosed with Ebola and infecting at least two nurses who cared for him, the Obama administration has repeatedly insisted that a travel ban would do more harm than good. Obama said last week that though he was not “philosophically against” a travel ban, instituting one will not keep Americans safe. This week, though, the Obama administration instituted a limited travel ban on travelers from West Africa, limiting travel to five airports where they can be screened for Ebola symptoms. African nations, as Breitbart News reported, have been containing Ebola by instituting travel restrictions and border closures. 

The poll, which was conducted Oct. 1-15 and has a margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage points, also found that 97% of Americans are aware of the Ebola outbreak. Here are some other findings: 

• 49 percent believe that the U.S. response has been adequate.
• 53 percent believe the U.S. has taken a leadership role addressing the outbreak; of those who did not believe the U.S. has taken a leadership role, 65 percent think the U.S. should take a leadership role.
• 60 percent agree with the decision to bring U.S. aid workers back to the U.S. for treatment; Millennials are least likely (47 percent) to agree with this.
• 56 percent are either “Very Concerned” or “Somewhat Concerned” that Ebola will spread to the U.S.; this rate tends to decrease with increasing age and income.
• 51 percent believe the U.S. healthcare system is properly trained/equipped to deal with Ebola in the U.S.
• 44 percent believe the U.S. is spending the right amount of money on Ebola; 36 percent believe the U.S. is not spending enough.