Most Manitobans will keep wearing masks: survey

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This article was published 13/08/2021 (1231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Amid recent public health rules allowing for more freedoms, new polling data suggests most Manitobans are happy to keep masking up and staying cautious.

According to a Prairie Research Associated survey conducted shortly after the province eased its COVID-19 restrictions Aug. 7, 60 per cent of Manitobans are against dropping the mandatory mask rule in indoor public spaces. However, the same percentage are in favour of lighter provincial restrictions.

According to the results, nearly three-quarters of those living outside of Winnipeg, and around 90 per cent of people with one or zero doses of the vaccine, are in support of looser restrictions.

Similarly, 57 per cent of those living outside Winnipeg, 72 per cent of those with one vaccine dose, and 88 per cent of those with no vaccine doses are in favour of dropping the mask mandates.

The divide between rural Manitobans and those living in the city on their approval of new health orders was consistent with vaccine uptake and restriction-following to date, said Nicholas Borodenko, a partner at Prairie Research Associated.

Though masks are no longer mandated in Manitoba businesses, two-thirds of those polled said they plan to keep wearing the extra layer of protection; one in five said they plan to drop the masks altogether.

Fully vaccinated Manitobans and those living in Winnipeg were more likely to report they plan to continue masking up, compared to Manitobans with no vaccine doses and those living outside the capital city.

Similarly, most Manitobans support businesses implementing their own mask mandates. More than two-thirds of those polled (68 per cent) said they strongly support individual businesses enforcing mask rules, while just 18 per cent indicated they were opposed.

As for how those preferences could affect patronage, more than half of respondents said they would be more likely to visit businesses with mask mandates, compared to nearly one in five who said they would be less likely.

Willingness to visit mask-only businesses was divided along vaccination lines, with 68 per cent of fully vaccinated Manitobans likely to visit businesses with mask mandates, compared to six per cent of unvaccinated Manitobans.

The percentage of people wearing masks everywhere has dropped drastically after a year of public health restrictions, said Borodenko. While more than 90 per cent said they used to wear their masks everywhere, that number dropped to just 46 per cent in the latest poll.

As public health norms adjust, Borodenko predicts that trend will continue to drop as social anxieties push people to relax precautionary measures.

“What I’ve heard is a lot of people saying they’re going to keep following restrictions, but the data doesn’t support that they’re always going to follow restrictions,” Borodenko said. “I think what’s going to happen is every week you’re going to see more and more people not wearing their masks.”

Even as rules relax, most Manitobans appear to be at odds with their government’s handling of the pandemic.

According to polling data from the Angus Reid Institute, Manitobans showed the most dissatisfaction with local updated public health restrictions compared to other provinces.

Just 35 per cent of Manitobans think the current rules are about right, while 45 per cent say the rules aren’t strict enough, and another 20 per cent believe they go too far.

Along with a dissatisfaction with the rules comes a dissatisfaction with the provincial leader. Manitoba recorded one of the lowest approval rates for its premier among the provinces — second only to Albertans’ disdain for Premier Jason Kenney — with 62 per cent of respondents saying Premier Brian Pallister is doing a bad job leading the COVID-19 response.

Just over a third of Manitobans (35 per cent) believe Pallister is doing a good job.

 

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers