SWS: 84% of Filipinos believe stay at home order ‘worth it’ vs COVID-19 spread

MANILA, Philippines — Eighty-four percent of Filipinos believe that the stay at home measure imposed by the government was “worth it” to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released Thursday.

The survey also showed that 15 percent of respondents who participated said that the quarantine measures “are placing too many burdens on people.”

Meanwhile, only one percent said that while the stay at home order was worth it, it produced too many burdens on people.

The survey, which was patterned after a US survey, was conducted last May 4-10 using a mobile phone, where 4,010 “working-age Filipinos” (15 years old and above) participated.

The SWS survey also had a sampling error margin of ±2 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, ±2 percent for Balance Luzon, ±3 percent Visayas, and ±3 percent in Mindanao.

According to the survey, those who said they approved of the quarantine measures were slightly higher in Metro Manila, Balanced Luzon and Visayas—all at 84 percent—compared to Mindanao with only 81 percent.

The survey also showed that among the respondents, 86 percent of women said that they approved of the measures, while 82 percent of men said they also agreed.

During the survey dates, Metro Manila, Central Luzon (except Aurora), Calabarzon and other areas in Luzon were still under enhanced community quarantine as they were classified as “high-risk” areas for the spread of the novel virus.

As of Monday, the national government has eased quarantine restrictions, with Metro Manila and nine areas are now under general community quarantine.  Meanwhile, the rest of the country is under modified general community quarantine.

The Philippines currently has 19,748 COVID-19 cases, with 974 fatalities and 4,153 recoveries.