CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - There's a high degree of satisfaction across Atlantic Canada with the response of public health and political leaders to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic, a new survey by Narrative Research shows.
But the survey also found almost two-thirds of individuals feel the pandemic poses a risk to their personal finances.
While 63 per cent of Atlantic Canadians felt the pandemic posed either an extreme or somewhat serious threat to their personal finances, 54 per cent of P.E.I. respondents felt the same way.
Margaret Brigley, CEO of Narrative Research, said the comparatively lower economic anxiety expressed in P.E.I. may be reflective of the more limited impact the virus has had on the Island. P.E.I. has experienced no hospitalizations due to COVID-19.
“It's not surprising that some of these results would be marginally lower in P.E.I. because of the actual experience that the province has had," Brigley said.
"The number of cases, the number of deaths, how many people are in the hospital at any given point, those are really important considerations when you look at these and I think it really helps to put that in perspective."
Overall, 89 per cent of Atlantic Canadians said they were completely or mostly satisfied with the response of their provincial leaders during the pandemic and 86 per cent were satisfied with the federal government. Eighty-nine per cent were also satisfied with the response of the health-care system.
On P.E.I., 91 per cent of respondents were either completely or mostly satisfied with the response of the Dennis King-led government, while 94 per cent were satisfied with the response of the health-care system. Eighty-six per cent of Islanders were also satisfied with the response of the federal government.
Brigley said the results of the survey were largely consistent across the region. The survey involved 3,236 respondents across Atlantic Canada, including 222 from P.E.I., 1,573 in Nova Scotia, 975 in New Brunswick and 466 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
"Regardless of political stripe, we saw that Atlantic Canadians, I'd say, are uniform in that they do believe that they're leaders are responding appropriately," Brigley said.
"I don't think that's a political statement, as much as it is their response during a time of crisis, what we need a leader to do."
Across Atlantic Canada, almost all respondents said they have complied with public health measures. Ninety-nine per cent of respondents said they had practised social distancing, while 95 per cent said they had stayed home unless necessary. Ninety-five per cent said they washed their hands more than usual while 84 per cent coughed or sneezed into their elbows.
P.E.I. recorded the lowest proportion of respondents, 33 per cent, who wore gloves or a protective mask in public compared to Nova Scotia (54 per cent), New Brunswick (52 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (55 per cent).
P.E.I.’s chief health officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, downplayed the importance of wearing a mask in public in March but has since suggested masks could help reduce transmission in public.
Sixty-nine per cent of respondents from P.E.I. said they have asked friends of family to practise physical distancing, while 76 per cent of individuals throughout the region have done so.
The online survey was conducted between April 16-April 19. The survey does not involve a margin of error, as respondents voluntarily joined a panel to share their opinion. Brigley said the sample was weighted, based on the 2016 census, by gender, age, and region to reflect the populations of each province.
