At the best of times, Canadians tend to try to keep their distance from one another (except, of course, when hockey is involved), so a poll released Tuesday–at the worst of times–could well be taken as a case of business as usual.
Kind of.
Here’s the no-surprise: Two out of three Canadians are in no hurry to relax social distancing rules as COVID-19 carries forward.
Sixty-six per cent of respondents to the poll, conducted by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, said two metres should remain the safe distance kept between people.
The survey also found that if distancing rules were relaxed, fewer than half of the respondents said they would feel comfortable taking part in activities that would bring them closer to other people–going to a movie theatre, for example.
Just 12 per cent favoured reducing the distance to 1.5 metres, as is required in many European countries, and 10 per cent favoured a reduction to one metre, the minimum recommended by the World Health Organization.
Walkers at Victoria Park in Charlottetown are reminded to practise social distancing when using the boardwalk. (Nicola MacLeod/CBC)
If the physical distancing rule was reduced to one metre, 40 per cent said they’d be comfortable dining in a restaurant, 28 per cent going to a movie theatre, 24 per cent to a gym and 21 per cent to a bar or nightclub.
“We’ve been schooled on two metres for over three months now,” says Leger Executive Vice-President Andrew Enns.
“It’s difficult for Canadians to now suddenly start to be convinced that it’s OK to make that a closer distance.”
Enns said the reluctance to get closer with their fellow Canadians reflects a “very persistent level of anxiety” about COVID-19 in Canada
Just 43 per cent of respondents said they believed the first wave of the pandemic was over and 74 per cent thought there will be a second wave.
People gather inside circles in Dolores Park in San Francisco in May. The circles are designed to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 by encouraging physical distancing. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jeff Chiu)
And 51 per cent said they are very or somewhat afraid of contracting COVID-19.
Forty-two per cent said they believe the worst of the crisis is over but an equal number said we’re in the worst of it now or the worst is yet to come (10 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively).
Almost half (46 per cent) said they find it very or somewhat stressful to leave the house and go out in public.
Sixty-two per cent said it will take time before life returns to normal, while 28 per cent said it will never return to normal.
The online poll of 1,521 adult Canadians was conducted June 19-21; it cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.
With files from The Canadian Press (Joan Bryden)
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