The worst is still to come. That's what most Americans think about the coronavirus pandemic. The 59% majority of the public says we haven't seen the worst of it yet, according to a Pew Research Center survey fielded on June 16-22. This is 14 percentage points below the 73% who felt this way in April. Among Democrats, 76% believe the worst is yet to come, down from 87% in April. Among Republicans, 38% think it will get worse – 18 percentage points below the 56% who felt that way in April.

Americans may be in denial about the worsening coronavirus pandemic, but businesses are not. A growing share are pessimistic about the future, according to the Census Bureau's Small Business Pulse Survey. In April, only 38% of small businesses thought it would take more than six months for their operations to return to normal. Now, a larger 50% feel that way. In Texas – a coronavirus hot spot – the ranks of the pessimists expanded from 34% in April to 52% in June.

Source: Pew Research Center, Republicans, Democrats Move Even Further Apart in Coronavirus Concerns; and Census Bureau, Small Business Pulse Survey.