85% of Filipinos still worried about contracting COVID — SWS

Health workers perform swab test to clients at Philippine Red Cross in Mandaluyong City on Thursday, September 23. The Department of Health (DOH) said the government will come up with a revised omnibus guidelines on CoVid19 testing, detection, isolation and quarantine management. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergerie made the announcement after the country’s efforts in suppressing CoVid19 ranked 66th out of 91 countries by the Lancet medical journal. – INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — At least 85 percent of Filipinos remain worried about contracting COVID-19, results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

Of the 1,249 adult Filipinos surveyed from September 17 to 20, 2020, 85 percent of them were worried about getting COVID-19.

Of the figure, 63 percent “worried a great deal” and 22 percent were “somewhat worried.”

Only 9 percent worried “a little” while 7 percent were “not worried” about testing positive for the coronavirus.

The results released on Monday showed little changes from the survey conducted in July which also showed that 85 percent of Filipinos worry about catching COVID-19.

In September, SWS said the worry rate is highest in Balance Luzon at 87 percent followed by the Visayas at 84 percent, Metro Manila at 83 percent and Mindanao at 80 percent.

“Compared to past SWS surveys, worry about catching COVID-19 is greater than worries about catching previous viruses such as Ebola, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),” SWS said.

The survey involved an interview of 1,249 adult Filipinos through mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing, subdivided according to population density, 309 in Metro Manila, 328 in Balance Luzon, 300 in the Visayas, and 312 in Mindanao.

The SWS maintains sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, ±5% for Balance Luzon, ±6% for the Visayas, and ±6% for Mindanao.

The survey results come as the Philippines surpasses the 300,000 mark for recorded COVID-19 cases with more than 5,300 deaths and over 250,000 recoveries.

EDV