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OTTAWA鈥擳wo-thirds of Canadians don鈥檛 want to relax physical聽distancing rules imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19, a new poll suggests.
And even if they were relaxed, a strong majority聽wouldn鈥檛聽be comfortable taking part in activities that would bring them closer to other people, like going to a movie theatre.
Sixty-six percent of respondents to the聽poll, conducted by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, said two metres should remain the safe distance kept between people, as recommended by Canada鈥檚 public health authorities.
Just 12 percent favoured reducing the distance to 1.5 metres, as is required in many European countries, and only 10 percent favoured a reduction to one metre, the minimum recommended by the World Health Organization.
If the physical distancing rule were reduced to one metre, just 40 percent said they鈥檇 be comfortable dining in a restaurant, 28 percent going to a movie theatre, 24 percent to a gym, and 21 percent to a bar or night club.
“We鈥檝e been schooled on two metres for over three聽months now,” said Leger executive vice-president Andrew Enns.
“It鈥檚 difficult for Canadians to now suddenly start to be convinced that it鈥檚聽OK to make that a closer distance.”
The online poll of 1,521 adult Canadians was conducted June 19 to 21. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.
Enns said the reluctance to get closer with their fellow Canadians reflects聽a “very persistent level of anxiety” about the deadly new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, despite a steady decline in the number of new cases in Canada.
Just 43 percent of respondents said they believe the first wave of the pandemic is over and 74 percent think there鈥檒l be a second wave, according to the poll. And 51 percent said they are very or somewhat afraid of contracting COVID-19.
Forty-two percent said they believe the worst of the crisis is over but an equal number said we鈥檙e in the worst of it now or the worst is yet to come (10 percent and 32 percent, respectively).
Almost half (46 percent) said they find it very or somewhat stressful to leave the house and go out in public.
Sixty-two percent said it will take time before life returns to normal, while 28 percent said it will never return to normal.
All those measures of continued anxiety聽about COVID-19聽are likely聽contributing to people saying聽“I鈥檓 not going closer than two metres because this thing鈥檚 not over,” Enns said.
By Joan Bryden
Focus News: Two-Thirds of Canadians Favour Keeping 2-Metres Physical Distancing