By Canadian Press

One in five Canadians think COVID-19 pandemic blown out of proportion: Poll

Mar 24, 2020 | 1:02 AM

OTTAWA — A new poll suggests one in five Canadians weren’t taking the deadly COVID-19 pandemic seriously as recently as last weekend.

In a Leger poll conducted between Friday and Sunday, 16 per cent of respondents said the crisis was partly blown out of proportion and another four per cent believed it was blown way out of proportion.

As well, 16 per cent said the crisis was having no impact on them going out to stores, restaurants or other places; 17 per cent said it was having no impact on the social distance they’re keeping from others; and 21 per cent said it was having no impact on visits with friends and family.

Nine per cent said they were still planning to let their kids play outside with other children.

While the poll suggests the vast majority of Canadians were taking the crisis seriously and abiding by government advice to stay home as much as possible, Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque says the 20 per cent who weren’t taking it seriously could jeopardize nationwide efforts to curb the rapid spread of the respiratory virus.

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Leger surveyed 1,508 adult Canadians randomly selected from its online panel; Leger’s internet-based survey cannot be assigned a margin of error because online polls are not considered random samples.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2020.