When New Yorkers first heard about a deadly airborne virus being called Coronavirus and how it found its way from across the world to our state, there was much confusion and concern.

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For a week or so after the coronavirus pandemic was deemed a legitimate issue by government leaders, Americans as a whole united, wanting answers and wanting to make sure that they, their loved ones, and their community were safe from the harms of a virus so many knew so little about.

And then the bottom dropped out as New Yorkers began to lose patience and quickly after a two-week pause on life to help “flatten the curve” turned into a month’s long situation. Closures, restrictions, job losses, hoarding, supply chain issues, and terrifying stories of extreme illness and sadly, even death.

Within a few weeks of New York’s pause, citizens quickly decided which side of the COVID fence they were on and firmly planted their feet. The virus was either a complete government fabricated hoax or it was a very legitimate and deadly virus. Once decisions were made, opinions were not swayed.

Two years after learning about Coronavirus, after dealing with protests, vaccines and vaccination mandates, social distancing, mask wearing, deaths and more, people still stand firmly where they did in their belief about the virus only weeks into knowing about it and no amount of arguing, pleading, commercials, fliers, anything are making people change their mind.

According to MyBioSource.com, over one in three New Yorkers, or 34 percent of the population, say that even now that they have the benefit of hindsight, their initial opinions about COVID and the ruled and regulations surrounding it have not changed even a bit.

As a whole, 61 percent of Americans say that if there were to be another pandemic, they have zero doubt that the division about ways to deal with it would be even more divided than what we, as a country, experienced during COVID.

Divided, we are.

One in three people say that they have lost people they considered to be good friends and simply over disagreements circling around COVID rules and regulations. People are so scared to speak up about how they feel that a full 36 percent totally avoid talking about anything COVID related in social settings because they simply don’t want to argue anymore.

Many Americans don’t see COVID as a threat anymore, but there is a pretty good-sized divide on that subject, too. 60 percent of Americans feel that COVID isn’t no longer seen as a priority, even those living in more liberal areas.

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