Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is just a week away, but can summer begin—unofficially or otherwise—if most people stay home due to the lingering impact of Covid-19?

According to a new survey from personal finance website Bankrate.com, slightly more than half of respondents (55%) believe businesses are reopening too soon and only 35% indicated it would take less than a month before they would feel comfortable visiting local non-essential businesses if they were to open up between now and the end of Memorial Day, even with enhanced safety measures.

Part of that is driven by health and safety fears regarding the coronavirus, but there’s also an economic factor at play in that 44% of respondents said the pandemic has negatively impacted their income and their ability to spend due to being furloughed (19%), working fewer hours (20%) or having reduced pay (16%).

And when it comes to spending, 43% said they expect to shop less in public than before.

Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, said in a press release that those spending-related numbers point to two likely outcomes: Consumer spending will remain under pressure, and online sellers will be in demand by consumers who are willing to spend.

“While retailers are naturally eager to welcome consumers back to brick-and-mortar locations, store traffic won’t return to normal in the near future,” he said.

Red Vs. Blue
As of May 15, 32 states had undertook a partial reopening, eight had reopened parts of their respective state and six were on their way toward reopening, the Bankrate.com survey said.

But given today’s super-charged political environment, it’s probably not surprising that political affiliations can influence some people’s willingness to dive back into the mosh pit of life.

The survey found that 56% of Republicans would be comfortable visiting local businesses within the under-one-month time frame versus just 20% of Democrats. In that vein, three-quarters of Democrats think states are reopening businesses too soon and 2% said they’re opening too late, while only 35% of Republicans believe businesses are opening too soon and 17% said they’re opening too late.

The Bankrate.com survey was conducted by YouGov Plc and included 1,341 adults who were contacted on May 5-6. It noted the survey employed a weighting scheme designed to provide nationally representative results.