Even as vaccine passports and masks mandates are lifted across the country, most Canadians say they don’t think the pandemic will ever end, according to in-house research by the Department of Health.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Department of Health conducted a study titled, Covid-19 Tracking Survey On Canadians’ Views, to gauge the public’s “perceptions, knowledge and behaviour relating to Covid.”
According to the study, 60% of Canadians said they were worried “that we will never really end the pandemic.” 62% of respondents were among Canadians under the age of 35. Only 22% of respondents believe they will return to pre-pandemic times.
The study revealed that many Canadians were unable to overcome the fears associated with the virus and public health restrictions.
Over half of respondents (55%) indicated that they were worried about the post-pandemic. When asked what worried them – 55% said “being in crowded places” and 45% said “not knowing if those around me are vaccinated.”
Canadians have been subjected to some of the strictest lockdowns in the world.
According to the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index, Canada is the tenth most restrictive country in the world when it comes to overall government COVID-19 measures.
According to the study, Canada’s score sat at 69.91, making it more restrictive than countries such as Iran (61.57), Russia (60.65) and China (59.72).
While governmments enforced strict public health measures, legacy media outlets in Canada have been criticized for promoting fear about COVID.
In Jul. 2021, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney took aim at the legacy media’s COVID coverage.
“As Dr. Hinshaw has said, we are moving from a pandemic to an endemic state of COVID-19. We have seen our numbers come down dramatically in Alberta. We should salute that,” Kenney said.
“Let me be blunt. I think it’s time for [the] media to stop promoting fear when it comes to COVID-19 and to start actually looking at where we’re at with huge vaccine protection.”
