FILE PHOTO - Thousands of people spend time on the beach by Lake Ontario in Toronto on Saturday June 20, 2020.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
July 20, 2020 - 11:28 AM
COVID-19 cases have ticked upward in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, as people between the ages of 20 to 30 struggled to maintain social distancing recommendations.
What this means in the days ahead remains to be seen, but a survey published this morning, July 20, by the Angus Reid Institute finds only half of Canadians have confidence their community would go back into the same style of lockdown — hand washing, social distancing and avoiding public spaces — employed for the first wave, if a second wave were to emerge and they were asked to do so.
“Residents in British Columbia and Manitoba are most confident in how their communities would respond, but fewer than half in all other regions of the country hold this faith,” the institute has found.
Two aspects of a potential second wave appear most concerning to Canadians. The first is 51 per cent feel the economic damage from an autumn or winter second wave would be worse than the first.
This anxiety is most pronounced in Alberta and Atlantic Canada.
“Additionally, the overwhelming majority say a second wave would be difficult for them from a mental health standpoint,” the survey results read. “Three-in-ten (or 28 per cent) say it would have a very negative impact on their mental well being, while 43 per cent say it would be negative to a lesser extent.”
Other findings include 42 per cent of young women say a second lockdown would have a very negative effect on their mental health.
One-in-five Canadians say it would not affect them
The Angus Reid Institute said that 20 per cent say they think Canada would fare better with respect to deaths and illness in the event of a second wave, while 39 per cent anticipate that it would be about the same, while 33 per cent feel it would be worse.
One-in-three say a second lockdown would have no effect on their personal finances, while the majority - 57 per cent - say it would have a negative impact.
To read the results of the survey, go here.
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