On May 2nd, an ABC News/Ipsos poll found 36% of Americans said they were pessimistic about the direction of the country. Not even three months later, as President Biden has finished his first 100 days in office, the same poll finds that now a majority of 55% are pessimistic.

In just a short time, Americans’ optimism for our future has plummeted. ABC News reports:

In the early May survey, Americans were more optimistic than pessimistic by a 28-percentage point margin. Optimism is now underwater by 10 points. Looking ahead to the next 12 months, fewer than half — 45% — now report feeling optimistic about the way things are going, a significant drop from about two-thirds (64%) in the May poll.

No political party is immune to the decline, which has occurred across the board among Democrats, Republicans and independents. Optimism is down 20 points for both Democrats and Republicans, and down 26 points among independents.

“Among Democrats, about 7 in 10 (71%) now say they are optimistic about the direction of the country over the next 12 months.” However, “that’s much lower than the near-universal (93%) approval from Democrats on Biden’s handling of the pandemic.”

In the latest ABC/Ipsos poll, Americans gave Biden his lowest approval rating for his handling of the pandemic yet. A little over 6 in 10 (63%) approve of the president’s response to the coronavirus, according to the poll.

According to the Health and Human Services data obtained by ABC News as of Friday, U.S. daily cases of COVID-19 was up an average of 47% compared to the prior week. On Wednesday, the “nation recorded its highest single-day new case total since April.”

Therefore the poll suggests growing concerns that lockdowns will be reinstated, and that vaccinated Americans are still getting the virus and likely need booster shots. Additionally, the new delta variant is highly contagious and is estimated to account for 83% of all new coronavirus cases.