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Poll: North Shore residents look forward to easing of COVID-19 restrictions

Most North Shore residents say they're ready to see pandemic restrictions lifted. About 20 per cent are worried.
Jane Seyd
Jane Seyd
Harmony Eats restaurant server
B.C. residents are still waiting to find out when going maskless will be an option in many settings. photo Paul McGrath, North Shore News

With spring just around the corner, Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s health officer, has hinted B.C. may consider the further lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in time for Spring Break. Henry hasn't detailed which restrictions could be lifted, but said B.C. will aim for a slow and sustainable approach.

Most people on the North Shore agree with that, according to a recent poll by the North Shore News, with almost half of locals who responded (48.5 per cent) saying they were cautiously optimistic about the prospect of easing restrictions, as long as that's done carefully. A further 31 per cent of North Shore residents said they're eager to see restrictions lifted and have no qualms about it.

About 20 per cent of residents said they're worried about the prospect of restrictions being lifted, fearing it will put more vulnerable people in harm's way or lead to another wave of the virus.

Interestingly, those from outside the North Shore who answered the poll seemed less worried about easing restrictions, with over half of them (56 per cent) eager to resume normal life as soon as possible, and only 14 per cent expressing worry.

Some restrictions eased in February

In mid-February, B.C. eased restrictions somewhat, allowing restaurants, bars and nightclubs to fully reopen with no capacity limits. In a Footloose-worthy move, mingling between tables and dancing was also allowed again. 

Fitness centres, adult sports, dancing, and swimming, as well as indoor seated events like concerts, sporting events, weddings, and funerals, have also been allowed to resume at full capacity. 

No word yet on masks & vax passports

But vaccine passports and masks have remained mandatory in B.C., despite being ditched by other provinces.

Greater restrictions, including capacity limits and banning of spectators, also remain in effect for many school-based events.

The North Shore News polled 3,593 North Shore News readers and asked the question: How do you feel about the prospect of COVID-19 restrictions being eased in B.C.?

The poll ran from Jan. 31, 2022 to March 2, 2022. Of the 3,593 votes, we can determine that 927 are from within the community. The full results are as follows:

Great. I'm all for lifting restrictions and getting back to normal life as soon as possible. That's happened in other countries like the U.K. We have to learn to live with COVID. 31.28 % local, 56.11 % total    
Cautiously optimistic. I'm hopeful that restrictions will be eased but it's important to take things slowly as hospitalization numbers are still high. We don't want to do anything that will overwhelm our health-care system. 48.54 % local, 29.47 % total    
Worried. There are too many instances where restrictions have been lifted and a spike in COVID soon followed. We're risking the lives of vulnerable people by easing restrictions prematurely. 20.17 % local, 14.42 % total    
  Local   Total

Results are based on an online study of adult North Shore News readers that are located on the North Shore. The margin of error – which measures sample variability – is +/- 1.62%, 19 times out of 20.

The North Shore News uses a variety of techniques to capture data, detect and prevent fraudulent votes, detect and prevent robots, and filter out non-local and duplicate votes.