
Today, INNOVATIVE is releasing results from a new online survey conducted from May 18th to May 26th, 2021, with a weighted sample size of 2,000 Canadian residents.
In just a few weeks, the percentage of Canadians who are “very concerned” about personally catching COVID-19 has dropped 14-points while the percentage of those “very concerned” about vulnerable friend or family member will catch COVID-19 has dropped 18-points. This is a fundamental reversal in key attitudes and the lowest level of concern we have tracked since the pandemic began.
A key difference in the current level of fear is living with children. People who live with children are more fearful than those who do not. Whether you have to leave home to work or not has little impact on these measures of fear.
Work status matters more when we ask about daily routines. As with the general levels of concern about catching COVID-19, the share who agree “My day-to-day routine puts me at more risk of catching COVID-19 than I am comfortable with” is down from 31% last summer to 21% now. People under 55 are much more likely to agree that their routine causes uncomfortable risk than older people. This is likely due to the fact that people who have to leave home for work with face-to-face contact are twice as likely to be concerned with the risks they have to take than the average.
With fears in decline, intense agreement with the view that “I am taking all the steps needed to protect myself and my family” is at the highest level we have seen to date. Just over half (51%) of all Canadians now strongly agree they are taking all the necessary steps.
To read the full report, click here!