According to new research from Rapid Test & Trace Canada, only 46.5% of Canadians plan to ask family and friends to get a COVID test to ensure safety before holiday visits. Even more shockingly, 7.7% of Canadians say ‘they could never ask them to get a COVID test,’ and 6.3% say ‘they’d like to ask them, but can’t.’
Canadian men are much more concerned about asking for pre-visit COVID tests with a definitive 70.8% saying they ‘could never ask,’ vs. only 29.2% of women.
A) The most wonderful time of year (to test COVID Clear)
Based on Canadians’ hesitance to ask friends and family to take COVID tests BEFORE holiday gatherings, Rapid Test & Trace Canada (a national provider of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19) has created a novel solution to stimulate conversation on this sticky subject with a series of five humour-based ‘holiday cards’ to coax COVID testing cooperation.
All cards are available as both a fully shareable, animated digital card (with voiceover) and a printable card free of charge to all Canadians at the company’s website at https://rapidtestandtrace.ca/ecards
Card # 1 Outside text
IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF YEAR (IF YOU TEST COVID CLEAR)
Card # 1 Inside text
Happy Holidays and best of the season!
I need you to do something soon (I have a really good reason.)
We can’t wait to see you; you guys are the best … but before we meet up, I need you to take a rapid COVID-19 test.
Card # 2 Outside text
#CANCEL COVID CHRISTMAS
Card # 2 Inside text
With holiday cheers and candy cane flavour, I’m using this card to ask a small favour.
We can’t wait to celebrate the season; we’re super keen – but we don’t want to invite COVID-19.
With the warmest of thoughts and wishing you the best, I’m asking you and yours to take a rapid COVID test.
Card # 3 Outside text
All I want for Christmas (is to keep it COVID free)
Card # 3 Inside text
In the weeks before Christmas, we’ll all be in a rush … I have a favour to ask that might make me blush.
We can’t wait to see you and enjoy the season’s glee – but please have you and yours take a rapid test, so we all stay COVID-free.
All cards and animated video cards can be downloaded in high resolution by media here
“As we navigate the 2021 holiday season, COVID-19 is still a very real and very frightening concern for all Canadians. Based on our research, there’s still a lot of hesitation to ask friends and family to take a simple COVID-19 rapid test; we wanted to tackle the topic with humour to diffuse potential testing turbulence,” said Sandy White, Co-Founder of Rapid Test & Trace Canada. “The COVID story also seems to change daily, so the only way to feel truly secure and celebrate the holidays safely is to ask all your holiday visitors to get a COVID-19 rapid test.”
B) The COVID Christmas Survey
Rapid Test & Trace also commissioned a (just completed) survey of 1000 Canadians to gauge how they are feeling about COVID-19 over the holidays and how they are planning to navigate seasonal celebrations.
Key Findings of the survey:
1) Holiday arguments now include COVID:
Asked what they expect to argue most about during the holidays, ‘things that happened decades ago’ (28.7%) and ‘politics’ (28.2%) take the top spots, but COVID-related arguments are also expected to make an appearance at family celebrations with a combined total of 57.2% expecting topics like ‘getting fully vaccinated’ (22.1%), ‘limiting visits due to COVID’ (22.9), and ‘getting a COVID test before visiting’ (12.2%).
Canadian men (58.2%) are more likely to argue about getting COVID tests ‘before visiting’ than women (41.8%).
2) Canadians may be afraid to ask:
Only 46.5% of Canadians are planning to ask family and friends to get a COVID test to ensure safety before holiday visits. Even more shockingly, 7.7% of Canadians say ‘they could never ask them to get a COVID test,’ and 6.3% say ‘they’d like to ask them, but can’t.’
3) But Canadians are (mostly) okay with COVID testing requests:
61.3% of Canadians say they would take a COVID test before visiting family (if asked), only 19.3% said ‘no,’ and 19.4% said ‘I don’t know.’
However, Canadian men (62.8%) are far more resistant to getting a COVID test if asked than women (37.2%).
4) Unfortunately, Over half of Canadians don’t believe ‘most Canadians’ will actually ask for COVID tests:
Asked if they think most Canadians will ask their holiday guests to be COVID tested, 57.7% said ‘no.’
5) Staying close to home, and limiting holiday visits
A combined total of 47% of Canadians are keeping holiday visits close to home with 34.6% planning ‘local’ visits and 12.4% planning visits within their own Province.
Asked if they are limiting holiday visits due to COVID concerns, over half, 53.1% of Canadians said ‘yes.’
Interestingly, though only 5.6% of Canadians say they are travelling internationally for the holidays, men (69.4%) are far more likely to undertake international travel vs. women (30.6%).
6) Risky Rendezvous?
Nearly a quarter (23.5%) of Canadians say they ‘don’t know’ if someone at high risk for COVID would be at their holiday event.
61.9% of men are aware that someone at high risk for COVID will be at their holiday event vs. 38.1% of women.
61.5% of women would exclude children under 12 from holiday events over covid concerns vs. only 38.5% of men.
SOURCE Rapid Test & Trace Canada
