A common response to some of my blogs about people not wearing masks, not follow basic distancing rules and outright calling COVID-19 a “hoax” has been that it’s only a “few” people.
Well, I beg to differ and I have some polling data to back me up.
Analysis of the latest public opinion data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute places Canadians into three broad categories in a measure of their behaviors and mindset, known as the COVID Compliance Index.
The Infection Fighters follow virus suppression behaviours carefully and comprise nearly half the population (47%).
The Inconsistent represent just over one-third of Canadians (36%) and take a more half-in, half-out approach to flattening the curve.
The remaining one-in-five (18%) are Cynical Spreaders who have expanded their social circles, don’t physically distance and are ambivalent towards hand washing and mask wearing. This last group also professes a clear dislike for the way public health officials and political leaders have handled the pandemic.
So, I’m not great with numbers, but I don’t consider 18% of the population to be a “few” – the number is actually quite shocking.
Please don’t be a Cynical Spreader. Take some responsibility, believe the numbers and take action.
More Key Findings:
- Age is among the most significant factors in the COVID-19 Compliance Index. The younger Canadians are the less likely they are to follow recommended protocols.
- Political affiliation is also correlated with a person’s categorization in the Index. Past CPC voters are four-times more likely to be Cynical Spreaders than those who voted for the Liberal Party or New Democratic Party in 2019.
- More than nine-in-ten Infection Fighters are regularly wearing a mask when in contact with non-family members indoors. This drops to 63 per cent among the Inconsistent and just 15 per cent among the Cynical Spreaders.
- Of 10 different COVID-19 spreading behaviours (not washing hands, not social distancing, not wearing a mask, etc.) Infection Fighters are engaged in either one or zero. Three-quarters of Cynical Spreaders are engaged in five or more of these activities.
Link to the poll can be found here: www.angusreid.org/covid-compliance
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
