LOS ANGELES, March 30 (Xinhua) -- More than half of people in the United States said they had contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic, according to a new poll from Monmouth University.

       In the poll released Monday by the university in New Jersey, a total of 52 percent of Americans said they had been infected with the coronavirus or thought they had COVID-19 at some point since the start of the pandemic.

       Around 38 percent of poll respondents said their COVID-19 status had been confirmed with a test and 4 percent said they had been given the diagnosis without a test. Additionally, 10 percent said they just knew they had COVID-19.

       Half of the American public would prefer to see the government continue to adjust COVID-19 guidelines and mandates in response to different variants as they arise. Another 14 percent said they wanted to settle on a consistent set of protocols from this point forward and 34 percent wanted to do away with all COVID-19 regulations and mandates, the poll showed.

       The Monmouth University poll was conducted by telephone from March 10 to 14 this year with 809 adults in the United States.