Almost One-Quarter of Canadians Believe Officials Exaggerate Threat of COVID-19, Poll Suggests

People get exercise outside on the lake shore path along Lake Ontario in Toronto on April 2, 2020. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—A new survey suggests some Canadians believe that warnings from public officials about the threat of COVID-19 are vastly overblown.

Almost one-quarter of respondents in an online poll made public today by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies say they believe public health and government officials exaggerate in their warnings, including about the need for measures like physical distancing to slow the spread of the pandemic.