New York Republican gubernatorial nominee Rob Astorino called for the federal government to ban all incoming flights to U.S. airports from countries affected by the Ebola outbreak this past Tuesday. Although Astorino’s proposal was met with a wave of criticism, he explained that he is “not concerned about political correctness.” A recent NBC News survey conducted by SurveyMonkey has found that Astorino may actually have a great deal of support behind his proposition, after 58 percent of Americans said they are on board with banning flights from West African countries.

The survey was emailed to 2,517 people, including 1,045 who started it and 1,010 who completed it. A team of NBC News academics then weighted for age, race, sex, education, and region to match U.S. Census data. Other findings revealed that 51 percent of respondents admit they are worried the United States could face an Ebola outbreak similar to the one currently affecting West African countries, such as Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Seventy-six percent said they trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent an Ebola outbreak, compared to 62 percent who said they trust their state health department.

The majority of Americans included in the survey were rather unexpectedly well-informed when it came to the specifics regarding how Ebola is spread. Seventy-two percent knew the deadly disease is communicated via bodily fluids. “People actually have to have a decent understanding in how you contract Ebola. Only 10 percent said through the air, and 15 percent said through the skin,” said John Lapinski, director of elections at NBC News. The survey was conducted on Oct. 7, which was one day before the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. died at a Dallas area hospital.

In addition to banning flights from West African countries, 73 percent of respondents agreed that the U.S. should start screening all passengers for Ebola at airports. Around 4,000 U.S. troops were deployed to help combat the spread of Ebola in West African countries earlier this week. Only 25 percent of the survey approved of this decision. However, 46 percent of respondents said the U.S. should take a more active role in preventing the spread of the Ebola virus in Africa. Surprisingly, only 30 percent of respondents were worried they or a family member would be exposed to the Ebola virus.

On Wednesday, the CDC announced that Enhanced Ebola Screening would start at five major U.S. airports that receive over 94 percent of West African Travelers, including New York’s JFK International Airport, Washington-Dulles, Newark, Chicago-O'Hare, and Atlanta international airports. The CDC and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs & Border Protection (CBP) have also implemented a new tracking program for all people entering the U.S. from Ebola-stricken countries.

"We work to continuously increase the safety of Americans," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a statement. "We believe these new measures will further protect the health of Americans, understanding that nothing we can do will get us to absolute zero risk until we end the Ebola epidemic in West Africa."