Although the province has hung up the mask mandate for indoor public spaces, a new survey indicates Manitobans aren’t ready to do away with masks quite yet.
Data collected by Prairie Research Associates in early August — right around the time the province eased health restrictions — shows six-in-10 Manitobans supported loosening health orders.
However, an equal amount said they’re opposed to dropping the mandatory mask mandate, including 40 per cent who were “strongly opposed.”
Two-thirds of respondents said they will continue to wear a mask in a retail store or other business all or most of the time, even if it’s not required.
A disparity emerged on either side of the Perimeter Highway, with 78 per cent of those living in Winnipeg saying they will continue to wear a mask, compared with 48 per cent of those outside the capital.
Altogether, most Manitobans — 82 per cent — said they support businesses such as salons, retail stores, and gyms requiring people to continue wearing masks indoors.
Slightly more than half of those polled said they were more likely to visit a business enforcing such a requirement.
Prairie Research Associates said it conducted the survey Aug. 9–11, 2021. In total, 800 Manitobans completed the survey. As a “non-probability sample, Prairie Research Associates said there is no error rate. Yet in a random population survey of this size, it said the error rate would be ±3.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.