Albertans the least likely to voluntarily mask indoors: poll
It has been two weeks since Alberta lifted the majority of its COVID-19 public health measures, including mandatory masking, and a new poll suggests people living in the province are the least likely in the country to continue to do so indoors.
The Angus Reid Institute found 73 per cent of Canadians support wearing a mask in a public indoor spaces, but only 50 cent would continue to do so voluntarily.
Support drops in Alberta to 41 per cent for people likely to continue to mask inside around strangers, the lowest in Canada.
Albertans were also the least likely in the country to keep social distancing, avoid large gatherings, not shake hands or hug people, or refrain from travelling abroad.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Craig Jenne says masking is still an important measure to stop the spread of COVID-19 and recommends it for some situations, like at large indoor gatherings.
"When you are indoors in tight spaces and large numbers of people outside your cohort, it’s still a good idea to wear that mask,” Jenne said.
Jenne says though hospitalization numbers are slowly coming down, there is still phenomenal strain on the health care system
"I think we’ve made some huge progress over the last year – or even six months – that is allowing us to get back to life as close to normal as we’ve seen now in two years," he said.
"We have to do our part over the next three, four, five months to ensure we keep numbers as low as possible."
Nationally, the poll found the majority of Canadians will continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with two-thirds planning to keep sanitizing their hands and three-in-five planning to continue social distancing.
When asked if the removal of restrictions were happening too quickly, there was no unified national consensus in the poll; two-in-five people in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Atlantic Canada believed their provincial government was moving too quickly.
Residents living in Alberta and Manitoba were also overwhelmingly critical of their respective premiers’ handling of the pandemic since it started.
Canadians are still required to be fully vaccinated to travel to the United States, which 70 per cent of Canadians polled agreed with, with the exception of Albertans who are least likely to support the full vaccine requirements to travel internationally.
Politics does appear to play a role in a person’s support of masking or vaccine passports, with the poll finding those who voted for the Conservative Party of Canada in the past much less likely to support restrictions.
The Angus Reid Institute poll surveyed 2,550 adult Canadians (including 256 Albertans) online between March 1 and 4, 2022. Angus Reid says a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.