Some B.C. residents still plan to travel for holidays

A new poll shows six per cent of British Columbians still plan to visit friends and family in another community or province, despite widespread advice to avoid essential travel and celebrate at home this year due to COVID-19.

When asked how concerned they were about personally getting sick from the coronavirus, 28 per cent of British Columbians said they weren't concerned; when asked about their friends and family getting sick, 16 per cent said they weren't concerned about their loved ones. Another 17 per cent said they weren't concerned about people in their community becoming sick either.

Those figures come from a new Angus Reid poll released this week that asked Canadians their thoughts heading into the holiday season while the pandemic continues to wreck havoc.

According to the poll, 92 per cent of people say they're still consistently washing or sanitizing their hands, while seven per cent say only sometimes when they decide it's important and three per cent say not very often or at all. Ninety-four per cent of British Columbians also say they're continuing to physically distance, while two per cent say they don't bother.

As for the holidays, 30 per cent say they'll visit relatives or friends locally, while six per cent plan to travel to another community or province to see relatives or friends.

Eleven per cent of those who are religious say they'll attend church if restrictions allow. Two per cent still plan to attend a work party.

The survey was conducted online from Nov. 24 to 30 with a representative sample of 5,003 Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. A probability sample of this size carries a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.