<p>Americans are steadily losing confidence in President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with his net approval on the issue that has dominated the US election hitting a record low in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.</p>.<p>The poll taken Tuesday through Thursday, after Trump's Covid-19 infection and weekend hospitalization, found 37% of American adults approved of the president's handling of the pandemic and 59% disapproved.</p>.<p>The net approval rating of negative 22 percentage points is the lowest in the poll dating back to March 2 and has steadily declined over the last 10 days, as Trump's illness and his return to work in the White House dominated news headlines.<br /><br /><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/trump-hails-covid-19-blessing-from-god-as-he-returns-to-oval-office-898941.html" target="_blank">Trump hails Covid-19 'blessing from God' as he returns to Oval Office</a></strong></p>.<p>Trump's rating on the issue was negative 11 points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Sept. 30-Oct. 1.</p>.<p>Trump has repeatedly dismissed the severity of the pandemic as something that would disappear on its own and chided Democratic rival Joe Biden for wearing a protective mask even though the virus has killed more than 210,000 people in the United States and thrown millions out of work.</p>.<p>The plummeting approval rating is an ominous sign for Trump, who trails Biden in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Biden has put Trump's mishandling of the virus front and center in his campaign to deny the Republican president a second White House term.</p>.<p>Trump has continued to play down the respiratory disease's dangers even after contracting the illness and has been censured by social media platforms for spreading misinformation about it.</p>.<p>"I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise," Trump said in a video posted to his Twitter account on Wednesday.</p>.<p>The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,331 U.S. adults between Oct. 6-8, and has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of plus or minus 3 percentage points. </p>
<p>Americans are steadily losing confidence in President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with his net approval on the issue that has dominated the US election hitting a record low in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.</p>.<p>The poll taken Tuesday through Thursday, after Trump's Covid-19 infection and weekend hospitalization, found 37% of American adults approved of the president's handling of the pandemic and 59% disapproved.</p>.<p>The net approval rating of negative 22 percentage points is the lowest in the poll dating back to March 2 and has steadily declined over the last 10 days, as Trump's illness and his return to work in the White House dominated news headlines.<br /><br /><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/trump-hails-covid-19-blessing-from-god-as-he-returns-to-oval-office-898941.html" target="_blank">Trump hails Covid-19 'blessing from God' as he returns to Oval Office</a></strong></p>.<p>Trump's rating on the issue was negative 11 points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Sept. 30-Oct. 1.</p>.<p>Trump has repeatedly dismissed the severity of the pandemic as something that would disappear on its own and chided Democratic rival Joe Biden for wearing a protective mask even though the virus has killed more than 210,000 people in the United States and thrown millions out of work.</p>.<p>The plummeting approval rating is an ominous sign for Trump, who trails Biden in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Biden has put Trump's mishandling of the virus front and center in his campaign to deny the Republican president a second White House term.</p>.<p>Trump has continued to play down the respiratory disease's dangers even after contracting the illness and has been censured by social media platforms for spreading misinformation about it.</p>.<p>"I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise," Trump said in a video posted to his Twitter account on Wednesday.</p>.<p>The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,331 U.S. adults between Oct. 6-8, and has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of plus or minus 3 percentage points. </p>