How concerned are Metro Vancouver residents about the coronavirus?: A Leger Poll

February 13, 2020

The coronavirus (now called COVID-19)* continues to make headlines, not just in Canadian news, but across the world.

From February 7 to February 10, 2020, Leger conducted 2,364 online surveys among Canadians aged 18 or older, with an oversample in British Columbia (including n=1,363 throughout Canada excluding British Columbia, n=453 in British Columbia excluding Greater Vancouver Metro, and n=548 in Greater Vancouver Metro) using our proprietary LEO panel. Using data from the 2016 Census, results were weighted according to age, gender, and region in order to ensure a representative sample of the population.

The survey focused on exploring respondents’ perspectives and behaviours with respect to the coronavirus, including:

  • Level of concern about the threat posed to Canada (and to their community) by the coronavirus
  • The sources they obtain information on the coronavirus from
  • Whether they are taking precautions to reduce the potential risk posed by the coronavirus to their immediate family (and the specific precautions they are taking)
  • Whether they believe that the Canadian government and health authorities are doing enough to protect Canadians from the risk posed by the coronavirus

Key Findings from Our Survey Include:

  • There is significantly more concern in Vancouver than there is in the rest of the country about the impact on the local community.
  • People of Chinese ethnic origin are significantly more concerned than average.
  • More people in Vancouver than elsewhere are taking specific precautions to protect themselves – especially people of Chinese ethnic origin.
  • People are taking a wide array of precautions to protect themselves and their families, primarily washing their hands.  Half of Canadians are avoiding people who are more likely to have come in contact with the coronavirus (e.g. travelled in Asia) and, one in seven are using natural remedies to protect themselves.

For more information, please download our full report, which focuses on exploring the perspectives of residents of Metro Vancouver and other areas of British Columbia.

To explore Canadians’ perspectives about the coronavirus, please consult our report here.

If you are interested in learning more, or conducting a similar study, don’t hesitate to contact us using the “Contact us!” button below.

*Note: For the duration of the study, the virus was called the coronavirus, as of Tuesday, February 11, 2020, the virus is now called COVID-19.

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