Nearly half of Canadians plan to abandon social distancing during Christmas gatherings and hug, kiss and shake hands with friends and family, a new survey shows.
Leger’s poll in collaboration with The Canadian Press found that 45 percent of Canadians say they will “greet others with a handshake, a hug or a kiss” at Christmas parties and other holiday gatherings.
In Ontario, the number of people prepared to shed social distancing during winter break jumped to 50 percent, compared to just 37 percent in British Columbia.
Among young people ages 18 to 34, the proportion of people who are comfortable hugging friends and family on vacation rose to 52 percent.
Christian Bourque, Leger’s executive vice president, said the finding suggests Canadians may be becoming complacent about the risk of COVID-19 because they are vaccinated.
49% of Canadians confessed that they were not afraid of contracting the virus.
“Canadians are showing signs that they are loosening up. Now that there is a fifth wave in Europe, Canadians are indicating that they are heading into a Christmas season where they will take too many risks,” Bourque said.
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He said he found the findings surprising because while “taking risks is cultural in America,” Canadians tend to be more cautious. He said the bold attitude may be due to “COVID fatigue” or because many Canadians now think, “We are all vaccinated in our home, what is the problem?”
At the same time, 81 percent of Canadians said they would abide by all “remaining” security measures during the Christmas season.
You cannot assign a margin of error to the survey of 1,547 Canadians between Friday and Sunday because surveys conducted on the Internet are not considered truly random samples.
Forty-five percent are prepared to ditch social distancing at Christmas gatherings: #CDNPoli survey # Covid19
47% of Canadians say they would ask people if they are vaccinated before inviting them to a party.
And only 35 percent said they would invite someone who is not fully vaccinated into their home.
More than a third plan to celebrate with more friends and family, although not at pre-COVID-19 levels.
Canadians continue to tighten their belts with 46 percent saying they had no plans to spend more money on vacation than last year. Only seven percent said they planned to spend “a lot more.”
Just over a third of Canadians said they planned to do their shopping at the mall, as they used to, and 42 percent said they would continue shopping online.
Sixty percent of Canadians would look for the best price, and only 22 percent said they would be willing to spend “a little more” to support local retailers.
The survey suggests that Canadians are not flocking to fly to sunny locations during peak vacation periods, despite the introduction of vaccine passports.
Only 18 percent plan to get on a plane to see friends and family during the holidays, and nine percent plan to fly to a vacation spot during the holidays.
Seventy-nine percent of Canadians support vaccine passports, while 21 percent of Canadians say they oppose them.
While the federal government’s handling of COVID-19 receives a cautious thumb from the Canadian public, confidence in some provincial prime ministers remains weak.
In Alberta, only 33 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the measures Prime Minister Jason Kenney had implemented to combat COVID-19, while in Saskatchewan, 37 percent were satisfied with the action plan against COVID-19. Prime Minister Scott Moe’s pandemic.
This compares with 77 percent of Québec residents who think Prime Minister François Legault has done a good job fighting COVID-19.
Sixty-three percent of Canadians say they are satisfied with the steps taken by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to combat COVID-19.
A third are unhappy with the government’s handling of the crisis.
The survey found that only 51 percent of Canadians believe the worst of the pandemic is over.
This Canadian Press report was first published on November 23, 2021.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com