E-Paper
Only 43% Canadians feel Trudeau has handled Covid-19 well: Poll
Canada recorded 6,471 new cases on Friday, a 63% increase over the daily case load two weeks earlier
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest level in a year, according to a new survey.
The numbers released by the non-profit public polling agency Angus Reid Institute or ARI on Friday show that just 43% believe he is doing a ‘good job’ when it comes to dealing with the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
That is sharply in contrast to the 62% approval rating he enjoyed in April last year, as the virus first started to make its presence felt in Canada and across the world.
These approval numbers have dropped a point from last month, while those who think his performance is not up to the mark remains at 52 per cent.
More interestingly, support from within the cohort that voted for Trudeau’s Liberal Party in the October 2019 Federal elections has dropped from 90% to 73%.
These figures come even as Canada faces simultaneous challenges of not just a surge in infections, but also continuing shortfall in the availability of vaccines as well a steep increase in cases caused by variants of the coronavirus.
Canada recorded 6,471 new cases on Friday, a 63% increase over the daily case load two weeks earlier, taking the total infections to 1,042,499. Covid-19 has also resulted in 23,247 deaths.
ARI pointed out that “as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reinforces that the country is facing a ‘very serious’ third wave of the virus, Canadians continue to reinforce that they do not perceive an improvement in his handling of this file”.
Concern over the impact of the virus is also rising among Canadians, undoing the optimism that was noticeable in the beginning of the year due to the belief that ample vaccines would soon be available for administration.
As ARP stated, “The first quarter of 2021 began with optimism on some fronts in the battle against Covid-19. Concern over becoming sick with the virus began to dissipate slightly within the Canadian public.”
However, the situation has changed as “highly infectious variants of the virus” have been spreading in the country leading to the concern returning to “closer to peak levels” with two-thirds of Canadians worried about becoming sick themselves. A larger percentage, 81%, “worry about a friend or close family member potentially contracting Covid-19”.
Trudeau has tried to calm citizens by repeating on Friday that a flood of vaccines will flow into the country in June and that 10.5 million doses have already been delivered, though just about half those have been administered so far.
