Six-in-10 Americans Concerned About Infectious Disease Risk in Public Settings: Survey

Concern about another global pandemic remains high at 56%: First Onsite

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., May 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As infectious disease threats, including reported hantavirus cases in the United States, continue to draw public attention, a new survey finds six-in-10 Americans are concerned about the risk of infectious disease spread in public settings. This reflects a benchmark in how Americans think about the built environments where they work, travel, and gather—and what they expect from those responsible for keeping those spaces safe.

The First Onsite Survey on Environmental and Public Risk Perception finds that concern about infectious disease and future pandemics is a central concern of Americans of all ages and regions. Beyond infectious disease, respondents also report concerns around indoor air quality, hidden building damage, hazardous substance and drug exposure, and the long-term health effects from environmental contamination.

“Concern about indoor environmental risk is no longer episodic—it is baseline,” said Norris H. Gearhart, CR, EVP Regulatory Business Practice & Director, First Onsite Academy, First Onsite. “What this data shows is that Americans have moved from awareness to expectation. They expect the buildings they occupy to be safe, and they expect the people responsible for those buildings to have a plan.”

Indoor risk concern is broad and consistent
Infectious disease concern tops the survey at 61 percent, underscoring how firmly public health risk remains embedded in how Americans think about shared indoor environments. Concern about another global pandemic remains widespread at 56 percent, reinforcing the durability of post-COVID risk awareness.

Hidden building damage (59 percent) and long-term health effects from smoke, mold, or water damage (56 percent) follow closely behind, while indoor air quality (40 percent) and hazardous substance and drug exposure in buildings (30 percent) represent lower but still meaningful concern levels.

Parents and Younger Americans Drive Concern Over Hazardous Substance and Drug Exposure
When it comes to hazardous substance and drug exposure in buildings, parents are the most concerned of any group — specifically, respondents with children in the home report concern at nearly double the rate of those without (44% vs. 24%). The generational divide is equally stark. Gen Z (41%) and Millennials (43%) express concern at nearly three times the rate of Baby Boomers (15%), with Gen X (26%) sitting closer to the older end of that spectrum.

Regional differences reflect local environmental pressures
While concern levels remain high nationwide, the risks that feel most immediate vary by region. The Midwest reports the highest concern about infectious disease spread in public settings (65%), while the West leads concern about long-term environmental health effects (61%), reflecting ongoing wildfire and smoke exposure concerns.

Environmental and Indoor Health Risk Concerns (U.S. Adults)

“The buildings people occupy every day carry real environmental risk—biological, chemical, and structural—and most facility cleaning programs are not designed with that in mind,” said Gearhart. “The difference between routine cleaning and genuine contamination control is significant. Knowing where your program falls on that spectrum, and who to call when you need to move up it, is increasingly a basic standard of care.”

Gearhart is one of the principal authors of the ANSI/IICRC S410 Standard for Professional Cleaning of the Built Environment for Infection Prevention and Control. Conceived prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the standard was developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts to address a longstanding gap in cleaning and disinfection guidance outside of healthcare and agricultural settings.

First Onsite’s Regulatory Business Practice (RBT) is led by specialists in life sciences, bio-recovery, and industrial hygiene focused on supporting highly regulated environments. The practice aligns with GMP/cGMP and other applicable frameworks for contamination control, biohazards, and indoor environmental risk, ensuring services are delivered in accordance with strict industry standards and audit-ready protocols across healthcare, pharmaceutical, and critical infrastructure settings.

Survey methodology
These findings are from an Angus Reid Forum survey conducted by First Onsite Property Restoration from March 12 to March 16, 2026, among a representative sample of 1,007 Americans. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

About First Onsite: North America’s Trusted Leader in Property Restoration
First Onsite Property Restoration is one of the largest and fastest-growing emergency response planning, mitigation, and reconstruction service providers in North America. First Onsite employs over 2,500 team members and operates from more than 100 locations across Canada and the U.S. With a culture focused on harnessing the human power of its team members and a commitment to doing what’s right, the First Onsite team helps clients restore, rebuild, and rise. First Onsite is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation. For more information, go to firstonsite.ca or follow @firstonsite on LinkedIn.
Press Contact:

Julia Koichopolos 
Maverick PR  
416-938-2882
julia@wearemaverick.com

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