As the measures around COVID-19 continue to evolve, so have the concerns of Canadians.
Survey data released last week from Statistics Canada shows that majority of Canadians are still worried about overloading the healthcare system, but have begun to fixate on their social ties and family issues.
From April 3 to April 25, the government agency collected data from 250,000 people across the country regarding their feelings around the pandemic and the precautions they’ve been taking.
During the first week of surveying, 88 per cent of participants were worried about overwhelming hospital resources. However, this number dropped to 78 per cent by the third week. Other leading concerns were the country’s population health at 72 per cent, which dipped to 64 per cent week three. Declines were widespread across all age groups for both men and women. Other concerns such as personal health varied very little between the first week and the third week of those participating.
The percentage of people who said they are still complying with physical distancing measures has remained relatively high. Even for those who said they were not worrying about overloading the healthcare system, 72 per cent still avoided leaving the house for non-essential reasons. Amongst individuals who said they were “somewhat concerned” about overwhelming the system, 88 per cent only left their home for “essential” reasons.
Canadians have increasingly worried about family stress from confinement, maintaining social ties and the possibility of violence in the home.