Even as health officials warn of a coming winter spike in COVID cases and the federal government urges millions of Americans to get a third booster, worry over the virus has dropped to just 28%, according to a new poll.

“Twenty-eight percent of Americans say they are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat worried’ they will get COVID — the lowest percentage Gallup has recorded since the summer of 2021,” Gallup reports.

The latest findings also show a new high of Americans say they believe the pandemic is “over.” And the survey found 78% of Americans, the highest to date, think it’s best for Americans showing no symptoms to “lead their normal lives as much as possible and avoid interruptions to work and business.”

“The same poll finds the smallest percentages of Americans yet reporting they are steering clear of specific situations because of the coronavirus, including avoiding large crowds (24%), avoiding travel by plane or public transportation (19%), avoiding going to public places (16%) and avoiding small gatherings (13%),” Gallup reported. “Use of face masks remains fairly common, but the 40% saying they have worn one in the past week when outside their home is also a new low during the pandemic.”

In addition, Americans are no longer stringent about social distancing.

“About six in 10 Americans (59%) say they have made no attempt to isolate themselves from people outside their household in the past 24 hours — the most eschewing social distancing since the beginning of the pandemic,” the poll found. “Sixteen percent, similar to the level in April, now say they have completely or mostly isolated themselves from people outside their household, while 25% — the lowest reading since April 2020 — say they have isolated themselves partially or a little.”

The latest Gallup poll follows another one from last month that found more Democrats than Republicans think there is still a pandemic.

“Americans in all party groups have become more likely to say the pandemic is over since July, including increases of 12 points among Republicans, 14 points among Democrats and 10 points among independents,” Gallup found. “Independents also broadly agree that the situation is improving (62%). All three groups have roughly returned to the levels last seen in February and April after cases were down from the January surge in infections.”

“However, Republicans are the only party with a majority saying the pandemic is over. Republicans are more than three times as likely as Democrats to say this, at 73% vs. 21%, while 48% of independents agree. Despite the fact that Biden has said he believes the pandemic is over, a majority of his party’s faithful, 79%, do not concur.”

That’s right — in July, just 7% of Democrats thought the pandemic was “over.” And that number is still just 21% in November, even though President Joe Biden made a major declaration a couple of months ago.

“The pandemic is over,” Biden said in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired September 18. “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over.”

That confident assertion didn’t last long. The scaremongers in the White House, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the resident Debbie Downer, immediately walked back the statement.

“We are not where we need to be if we are going to quote, ‘live with the virus,'” Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the following day. “We still must be aware of how unusual this virus is and continues to be in its ability to evolve into new variants which defy the standard public health mechanisms of addressing an outbreak.”

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

An Israeli father whose daughter narrowly escaped being murdered in the suspected Palestinian bombings on Wednesday in Jerusalem issued a powerful Twitter thread in which he delineated his feelings after the attack.

Uri Pilichowski, whose op-eds have appeared in the Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel, wrote about the experience of his daughter Naomi.

“This wasn’t a day we ever dreamed of…even in our nightmares. A🧵on today’s terror attack and our daughter,” he began.

“Early this morning, our 18-year-old daughter Naomi walked to her regular Jerusalem bus stop to commute to her national service job in Beit Shemesh. As she approached the stop, a Palestinian terrorist detonated a bomb packed with nails and other shrapnel. One of the pieces flew at Naomi, hitting her, but not seriously. She felt ringing in her ears but wasn’t hurt,” he continued.

“Naomi texted our family WhatsApp group that there’d been a bombing and she was fine. There hasn’t been a bombing in years, I was sure she was mistaken. None of the news sites had the story, but her next text said she was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital,” he wrote. “Aliza and I met Naomi at the hospital, saw the wound wasn’t serious, and waited while she was interviewed by doctors, Shabak, the police, social workers, and psychologists. After 6 hours Naomi was released and we drove home, thankful that Naomi was OK.”

He said his family all went out to dinner after his daughter was released from the hospital.

“One of my teachers, Dr. Gil Troy, sent me an email suggesting our family go out and celebrate immediately. We thought that was a great idea, and other than one daughter who was in transit to New York, we all agreed to meet in Jerusalem for a celebratory dinner,” Pilichowski recalled. “At dinner each member of our family spoke about what they were grateful for that day. Naomi’s words of being grateful for a supportive family really came home for all of us. Each of her parents and siblings quickly realized that just being ourselves was a big help to Naomi.”

After noting the family decided to celebrate the date, which was the eve of the new Hebrew month Kislev, to offer thanks to God, he noted, “Very conscious that all too many of our friends commemorate annual yahrzeits of their terror victims, we’re grateful to be able to celebrate annually.”

Pilichowski noted that he had been inundated with media requests, adding, “I wasn’t going to do any of them, but Aliza thought it was important I humanize the attack for people. I had seen victim’s families provide the nation with encouragement and I wanted to try to help our nation.”

“I felt sad because of what had happened and angry at those who caused it,” Pilichowski wrote. “Most of all, I felt terrified. Not the terror of what could happen in the future, but of what I almost lost. Terror sweeps over me and overwhelms me. I cry and can’t breathe. It’s indescribable.”

“Today could’ve been much worse,” he asserted. “A nail flying an inch or two higher or lower and I’d have been sitting shiva tonight instead of offering thanks at a celebratory dinner. I’m grateful I’m celebrating instead of mourning tonight.”

After pointing out the kindness of Jews including nurses, doctors, family, friends, & strangers, Pilichowski stressed, “Israel is a safe country. Yes, the headlines are scary, but while 1 was killed today & 22 were injured, 9 million Israelis were perfectly safe. They were safe yesterday, today & they’ll be safe tomorrow. Don’t be taken by headlines, Israel is a wonderful and safe place.”

Then he addressed the murderous terrorists who had tried to take the life of his daughter.

“There are people who planned this attack. They scouted the bus stop for days; they saw my daughter waiting every day & aimed to kill her. These people are celebrating tonight. I might sound harsh, I don’t care. I want them dead. Not tried, not jailed. Executed. ASAP,” he said.

He blasted the Arab governments who are supporters of terrorism: “This attack took expertise, training, and planning It was expensive, it took funds and support. It took a world willing to look away from Palestinian, Iranian, and Qatari funding of terror, to find a small amount of terror acceptable. The world must shut them down.”

“This attack had nothing to do with occupation, a state or apartheid,” he pointed out. “Arab terror and attacks occurred before 1948 and before 1967 and continue today. These attacks are caused by antisemites who hate the Jewish people and want Jewish people dead. Don’t be fooled.”

“Naomi will be fine. Our family will be fine. Our people will be fine. The Jewish State will be fine. The Jewish people will grow and flourish. Hashem will protect us and keep us safe. Our enemies will be defeated, and we will be the ones to defeat them,” he concluded, adding, “Thank you to all those who reached out today. I’m sorry if I couldn’t return every message, but your words meant the world to me and to our family. We’ve never felt so loved and supported.”