Manitobans support mandatory mask use: survey By: Katie May Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2020 Last Modified: 5:13 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 3, 2020 Updates

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This article was published 02/09/2020 (1613 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Most Manitobans want face masks to be required in all indoor public spaces during the coronavirus pandemic, results of a new survey suggest, but one in 10 said they never wear them.

Eighty-four per cent of respondents in a Probe Research and EPI Research Inc. online survey said they support mandatory mask use, and 61 per cent were strongly in favour.

The survey of 1,049 Manitobans, which was conducted over 10 days in August, found women, Winnipeg residents and university graduates were more likely to support mandatory masks than were men, people who live outside the capital, and those with lower levels of education.

Political beliefs may also play a role: only 43 per cent of respondents who were strongly in favour of mandatory masks were Progressive Conservative party supporters, compared with 74 per cent and 73 per cent who supported the Liberals and NDP, respectively.

The political findings are worthy of further study, said Cynthia Carr of EPI.

“I’m curious as to what it is about political party support that appears to be impacting these results, particularly if the party that you support is the leadership in power at the time (Manitoba is currently led by the PCs),” Carr said Wednesday.

“It’s against what we usually hear from the World Health Organization or others in terms of people not complying with policies or not believing their government, it tends to be people that didn’t vote that leadership in.”

The most common reasons cited for not wearing masks were because Manitoba respondents felt the masks were too uncomfortable or made their faces hot, and that masks don’t protect from COVID-19 or don’t prevent the virus from spreading.

Ten per cent of respondents said they never wear masks; five per cent of non-mask wearers said they thought the issue was a form of social/government control.

Manitobans who were most worried about getting COVID-19 tended to be women, older adults, and people with higher levels of education, the survey says.

Overall, the results show there’s more work to do, Carr said.

“We still need to work harder on our public health messaging; it’s getting that nuance and clarity about what we meant by (masks) won’t protect you individually. Masks will prevent the spread of COVID-19, but only if a reasonable number of people are working together to wear the masks,” she said.

“So the messaging about. ‘If you alone are wearing the mask, that’s not enough,’ it’s still true, but what seems to be getting lost is we need to work together as a group.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay

Manitobans' Views on Masks