SWS: Filipinos willing to comply with COVID-19 contact-tracing efforts
MANILA, Philippines — Most Filipinos were found willing to comply with contact-tracing efforts against the coronavirus disease 2019, results of a recent survey of the Social Weather Stations revealed Friday.
The survey conducted on September 17 to 20 identified four contact tracing efforts: self-quarantine, providing details of people they have come into contact with, giving access to cell phone location data, and volunteering for weekly COVID-19 testing.
Of the 1,249 adult Filipinos surveyed, 97% said they would self-quarantine if they came in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, while 96% said they would give a list of all the people they’ve come in contact with if they tested positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, 93% will give access to their cell phone location data if they tested positive for COVID-19, and 87% will volunteer for weekly testing to track the virus’s progression.
The survey also found that Filipinos’ willingness to cooperate is higher than that of Americans.
SWS said a survey of Americans by Axios/Ipsos in May found that 84% are likely to self-quarantine if they came in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 while 76% are likely to give a list of all the people they’ve come in contact with if tested positive for COVID-19.
Of the surveyed Americans, 59% are likely to volunteer for weekly testing to track the virus’ progression, and 56% are likely to give access to cell phone location data if tested positive for COVID-19.
“This shows that, although majorities of Americans say they are willing to cooperate, their proportions are not as high as those of Filipinos,” SWS said.
SWS conducted a probability-based survey using a mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing.
Of the 1,249 Filipinos surveyed, 309 were from Metro Manila, 328 were from Balance Luzon, 300 were from the Visayas, and 312 were from Mindanao.
The survey has a sampling error margin of ±3% for national percentages. [ac]
