COVID-19: Most Canadians didn’t ask guests to take a test before spring holiday gatherings

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The vast majority of Canadians didn’t ask friends and family to get tested for COVID-19 before their Easter weekend or Passover gatherings, a new survey suggests.

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According to the research—commissioned by Rapid Test & Trace Canada and conducted online among members of the Angus Reid Forum — only eight per cent who gathered all their guests to do a rapid test. Six per cent asked some of them to take one.

That combined total of 14 per cent is barely more than half the percentage who asked friends and family to get tested before winter holiday gatherings, when 26 per cent did so. (That’s according to a similar survey done in March.)

In general, Canadians aren’t testing themselves much, either: 78 per cent of respondents said they took no tests during or after the Easter/Passover weekend. Some 13 per cent took one, eight per cent took two or three, and one per cent said they took more than three.

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About the same percentage who asked guests to test — 15 per cent — said they choose to wear a mask when visiting friends and family indoors.

“We want Canadians to wake up and accept that COVID isn’t over,” said Sandy White, co-founder of Rapid Test & Trace Canada, which is recommending people ask guests to take tests before upcoming Mother’s Day and Victoria Day holidays.

“Hospitalizations are rising across the country and are currently at the second-highest level of the pandemic. Canadians need to get serious about protecting themselves and their families and friends by simply taking a COVID test before meeting up for holiday get-togethers.”

While Rapid Test & Trace Canada sells COVID test kits to individuals and organizations, including major companies like Toyota and Hello Fresh, the kits are also available at hundreds of pharmacies across BC free of charge.

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A similar percentage of Canadians said they held holiday gatherings with people outside their households in both December and April: 43 per cent did so in the winter and 39 per cent gathered in spring. About a quarter of those (27 per cent) met up with 10 or more friends and family; over a third (35 per cent) met with five to nine people, and 38 per cent met with fewer than five.

The survey also showed younger Canadians are catching COVID at a higher rate than older groups. Over a third, 34 per cent, in the 18-to-34 age group said they had tested positive for COVID at some point; 30 per cent age 35 to 54 said they had; while 14 per cent older than 55 reported a positive test.

The online survey was conducted from April 21 to 25 among a representative sample of 1,018 Canadians in the Angus Reid Forum. The poll is considered accurate to within +/-3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.