The majority of people in Alberta believe they will be infected by the Omicron variant regardless of the health precautions they take, according to a new poll.
As of January 13, Alberta had more than 62,000 active COVID-19 cases with 786 people in hospital and 79 in intensive care. The bulk of the cases are in Calgary and Edmonton.
New data from the Angus Reid Institute, a non-profit, which polled more than 3,000 Canadians including 365 from Alberta, found that half of Albertans think it is time to end restrictions.
When asked to agree or disagree with the statement "it's time to end restrictions and let people self-isolate if they're at risk", people in Alberta had the strongest views with 50% wanting to see restrictions end. Less than a third of people in Nova Scotia held the same opinion.
Many Albertans also believe that there is nothing they can do to avoid catching the Omicron variant.
When asked to agree or disagree with the statement "I will be exposed to and infected with Omicron no matter what I do", 57% of Albertans either strongly agreed or agreed.
On January 3, Alberta updated its rules for people who test positive for COVID-19.
Those infected are now only required to isolate for five days, instead of ten, providing they have received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine (or one dose of Janssen).
For those who are unvaccinated or have only received one dose, they must isolate for 10 days.
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