Impacts of COVID-19 on Attending Events for Manitobans (July 15, 2020)

Research | July 16, 2020

Impacts of COVID-19 on Attending Events for Manitobans (July 15, 2020)

July 15, 2020
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Manitobans do not expect to go back to normal activities

In spite of the fact that the province was virtually COVID-19-free at the time of the survey in early July 2020, Manitobans are still not comfortable with attending most events that involve large numbers of people.

We asked Manitobans when they would be comfortable gathering with others if there is no vaccine available for COVID-19. We explained that, if public gatherings are allowed, there would be some other measures in place to help stop the spread of the virus.

Our results show the following:

73% of Manitobans are comfortable getting together with a few friends or family, with comfort level growing slowly over the summer (78%) and in the fall (87%).
60% of Manitobans are now comfortable getting together with 10 other family members or friends, and comfort leaps up over the summer (68%) and into the fall (79%).
Only 18% of Manitobans would be comfortable attending a concert or movie in a venue with 50 other people at the moment. This proportion grows over the summer and fall, with a slim majority saying that they believe they will be comfortable attending by winter 2020-21 (55%).

No large gatherings until summer of 2021

For larger gatherings, it will not be until the winter of 2020-21 that half (49%) of Manitobans will feel comfortable attending a family event involving about 100 people. It will not be until the spring or summer of 2021 that about half will feel comfortable attending a concert or live theater with 300 people (52%) or with 1,000 people (40%). For arena or stadium-sized events involving 10,000 people, only 30% will feel comfortable attending by the spring or summer of 2021.

Comfort with large gatherings has changed little in the last two months

We asked Manitobans these same questions in late May 2020 and, in most cases, the results were almost identical.

For example, the figure below shows the comfort level of Manitobans for attending a concert or live theatre production with 300 other people as recorded in May and July 2020. In both cases, it will not be until the spring or summer of 2021 that about half would feel comfortable attending.

METHODOLOGY

PRA conducted the survey from June 23 – July 3, 2020, using its Manitoba Panel. In total, 2,033 Manitobans completed the survey.

Because this sample is a non-probability sample, no error rate can be calculated. A random population survey of this size would yield an error rate of ± 2.2% (19 times out of 20).

As any sample may not represent the population perfectly, PRA corrects statistically for discrepancies in gender, age, and income to ensure that the sample corresponds as closely as possible to Statistics Canada information.

PRA Inc. sponsored these questions independently.
No other organization, public or private, funded this study in whole or in part.
For more information about the research, please contact Nicholas Borodenko, partner, at borodenko@pra.ca
(204) 987-2030 or toll-free at 1-888-877-6744

Research