Majority Of Canadians Concerned They Will Get Infected With Omicron: Poll
Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: A line outside the assessment centre, for those with appointments for a COVID test, at St. Josephs Health. Small lines for COVID19 testing at three hospital clinics in contrast to long lines for rapid test kits being handed out. As numbers increase with the anticipated spread of Omicron, these lines might get longer by next week. CORONAPD Toronto Star/Rick Madonik (Rick Madonik/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
A new public opinion poll finds a majority of Canadians are concerned with getting infected with the Omicron variant of the COVID virus, while the same majority believe that vaccines or people’s own immunity will also protect them.
A survey conducted by Maru Public Opinion between December 17-19 on behalf of CityNews shows 56 per cent of Canadians are worried they will contract Omicron, up 10 percentage points from just a week ago when a similar question was asked. Concern is greatest in British Columbia (60 per cent) while the biggest increase from the previous result was seen in Ontario (57 per cent).
One in 10 Canadians report knowing someone in their family or close circle of friends who have contracted Omicron in the last 10 days.
A similar majority (55 per cent) believe Omicron is being underestimated and that it will be both highly contagious and more deadly than the last COVID wave. This belief is strongest in Quebec (61 per cent) followed by Ontario (58 per cent).
By the same token, 55 per cent of Canadians believe current vaccines or people’s own immunity will protect them from Omicron.
In order to cope with this new strain of the virus, 59 per cent of Canadians say they are staying home more, which is a 21 per cent increase from December 6 when the same question was asked. Three in 10 say they have already cancelled or postponed travel plans over concerns about the virus, while four in 10 say the variant is causing their workplace or their ability to work to be impacted by new precautions.
Four in 10 Canadians say they approve reduced capacity limits at businesses and reducing social contacts while 28 per cent say they would like see more aggressive measures, such as full lockdowns, in order to deal with the spike in new COVID cases caused by Omicron. Another 26 per cent prefer to leave things as they were and allow individuals to use their best judgment.
When it comes to how their government leaders are handling this latest wave, 60 per cent of Canadians say their provincial government is responding effectively while 57 per cent believe the Trudeau Liberals are doing a good job. Among the provincial leaders, 71 per cent of Quebecers give premier François Legault the thumbs up followed by British Columbia’s John Horgan (60 per cent) while 56 per cent of Ontarians approving of Doug Ford’s handling of the situation. Only 40 per cent of Albertans approve of Jason Kenney’s performance.
The poll was conducted using 1,512 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada online panellists and has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
