- Just over half of all Canadians are concerned about it, while just over four in ten report not being worried about the latest variant.
September 28, 2023
While the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared that COVID is no longer a public health emergency, some countries, including Canada, are seeing a rise in cases of the most recent COVID variant, EG.5 (a sub-variant of the Omicron strain), resulting in tighter masking mandates in many hospitals and long-term care homes. After a summer of heightened worry about environmental crises and economic struggles, we wanted to know to what extent Canadians are concerned about the emergence of this latest COVID-19 variant.
Results are mixed, with just over one-half of Canadians report being concerned (55%) with the latest COVID-19 variant, compared to four in ten who state they are not concerned (43%). More specifically, four in ten are somewhat concerned (41%), while just over one in ten are extremely concerned (14%). Conversely, one quarter is not very concerned (26%), whereas about two in ten are not at all concerned (17%).
There are no notable differences in results across the country. Women, and residents aged 55 and older are more likely to be concerned about the new COVID-19 variant, compared to their respective counterparts.
Results are from an online survey conducted in partnership between Narrative Research and the Logit Group. The survey was conducted between September 12th and 14th, 2023, with 1,231 Canadians, 18 years of age or older from the Logit Group’s Canadian Omnibus. Data were weighted based on the 2016 Census by gender, age, and region to reflect actual population distribution. As a non-probability sample a margin of error is not applied.
The questions asked were:
In recent weeks, some hospitals across Canada have tightened their masking policies as there has been a rise in cases of a new COVID-19 variant. Given this news, to what extent are you concerned or not concerned about the latest COVID-19 variant?
For more information, please contact:
Margaret Chapman, COO & Partner, Narrative Research – 902.493-3834, mchapman@narrativeresearch.ca
OR
Sam Pisani, Managing Partner, Logit Group – 416.629.4116, sam.pisani@logitgroup.com
Narrative Research (www.narrativeresearch.ca), is a leading public opinion and market research company headquartered in Canada. The company is certified as a WBE (Women Business Enterprise). As a non-partisan, 100% Canadian-owned research company, Narrative Research is dedicated to providing clients with state-of-the-art research and strategic consulting services.
The Logit Group (https://logitgroup.com/) is a leading North American data collection and market research execution company headquartered in Toronto, conducting large-scale projects for a variety of well-known research agencies and brands. Logit employs industry-best technologies across an array of methodologies, and is independent, experienced and quality-oriented.
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