Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo

Governors Andrew Cuomo, Gavin Newsom and Mike DeWine emerged as the political stars of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their steady and fact-based virus briefings stand in sharp contrast to the carnival presentations made by president Trump.

The performance of the gubernatorial trio may explain why Edelman's updated Spring Trust Barometer shows the US registered the greatest gap among the 11 nations polled between trust in state/local leaders and national ones.

The US has a 20 point bulge between trust in local leaders (66 percent) and federal leadership (46 percent). That tops the 15 point gap in Japan and 11 point difference in France.

Democrats have a higher level of trust in local government than Republicans (73 percent vs. 65 percent), though both groups showed an 11 point improvement from the January Barometer.

Democrats appear to be turned off by the Trump Show as their trust in the federal government dipped five percentage points to 40 percent since January.

Republicans rallied around the president as trust in the federal government jumped 10 points to 59 percent.

Russia leader Vladimir Putin is using COVID-19 to crack down on media trying to investigate the truth about the virus, according to a report by PEN America, the advocacy group for writers.

The Russian government initially downplayed the threat posed by the virus and failed to implement programs or public information campaigns to prevent the spread.

PEN reports that Russian media are now being charged with “dissemination of false information” and “sowing panic among the public and provoking public disturbance."

Russia, which spread misinformation in the US during the 2016 presidential election, has new laws aimed at people who spread false information about the epidemic.

That measure gives the Russian leader a wide net to scoop up media figures or dissenters.

Thanks but no thanks. Three-in-ten Americans say they won't take a COVID-19 vaccine, once it is developed, according to a poll by Bospar, tech PR firm.

Young people (18 to 24) are least likely (57.6 percent) to get a vaccine, while those over 65 are the most likely to vaccinate at 78.3 percent.

Democrats are more likely to vaccinate than Republicans (79.1 vs. 67.9 percent). Heterosexuals are more likely to consider vaccination than the LGBTQIA community (71.5 vs 55.9 percent).

The poll asked people how they will treat others who declined to vaccinate.

Almost half (49.4 percent) said they would respect their choice. That was followed by physically avoid non-vaccinators (37.8%), pressure non-vaccinators to change their minds (25%) and warn others about the status of those who did not get vaccinated (18.7%).

More than one-in-ten (11.1%) of the respondents say they wouldn't care one way or another about a person's vaccination decision.