The emergence of the COVID-19 virus has changed the lives of us all over the past year. There have been many changes to work environments, living arrangements, health-related behaviours and most notably, the pandemic has instilled a fear of viruses in us. Most of us are trying to do our best to protect ourselves through isolation, extensive hand sanitizer use and wearing masks in public spaces.
As post-secondary students navigate online learning, many struggle with loneliness, independent learning and perhaps a fear of the COVID-19 virus. A new survey has been developed called the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and is designed to measure self-reported fear of the virus. So far, there is no current research utilizing the FCV-19S to measure Canadian post-secondary students’ fear of COVID-19.