POLL: Congrats, Sault Ste. Marie. Your mask-wearing is on point

Over the last year, masks have become one of those essential items you find yourself running back into the house to grab before heading to the store.

The Algoma region has been under mandatory mask rules for ten months, with Algoma Public Health issuing instruction to residents to begin wearing masks in all indoor premises as of July 17, 2020. On Oct. 2, 2020, the mandatory masking policy was extended across all of Ontario, with limited exemptions.

With vaccine rollout ramping up and a possible end to the pandemic in sight, many are hopeful masks will soon be a thing of the past. As of May 15, just across the river, anyone in Michigan who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer has to wear a mask.

However, they are still very much mandatory across Ontario, regardless of vaccination status.

This got us thinking: How often do you wear a mask?

An overwhelming majority of poll respondents (88 per cent, or 1,873 of 2,118 voters) say they are still wearing masks on a regular basis.

Only three per cent of respondents have said they don't wear a mask.

The breakdown was as follows:

• 1873 (88 per cent of) respondents said on a regular basis
• 160 (eight per cent of) respondents said sometimes
• 53 (three per cent of) respondents said they do not wear a mask
• 32 (two per cent of) respondents said they are exempt

A total of 2,118 local votes were cast in the poll. This poll had a 2.1 per cent margin of error, 19 times out of 20.

SooToday's polling system allows for the capture of relevant local data and gives us the ability to detect and prevent fraudulent votes, as well as detect and prevent robots and filter out non-local duplicate votes.