SWS releases survey showing ‘large majorities’ of Pinoys follow safety protocols to avoid COVID-19

FILE: Shoppers practice social distancing while waiting for their turn to enter the supermarket at Fisher Mall in Quezon City. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

Wanting to protect themselves from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), “large majorities” of Filipinos are complying with the implemented safety protocols.

Based on the survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) from July 3 to 6 and was released on Friday, July 24, 76 percent of Filipinos “always” wear a mask every time they go out of their house, 65 percent “always” wash their hands several times a day, and 59 percent “always” maintain a one-meter distance from people when outside their homes.

The SWS said the latest figures “hardly changed” from the May 2020 survey which showed that 77 percent of Filipinos always use a face mask, while 68 percent of them always wash their hands.

But the current number of Filipinos who follow social distancing is lessened, declining by five points from May’s 64 percent.

Metro Manila has the highest number of those who said that they always wear a face mask with 90 percent, followed by Visayas with 82 percent, and Balance Luzon and Mindanao with 72 percent each.

Most of the Filipinos who said they always wash their hands are also from Metro Manila, at 73 percent. Visayas came second at 69 percent, Mindanao at 67 percent, and lastly, Balance Luzon at 59 percent.

The proportion of those who said they always keep the physical distance is also highest in the National Capital Region (NCR) at 68 percent, then Visayas at 64 percent, Mindanao at 57 percent, and Balance Luzon at 56 percent.

The pollster also found out that compliance with these safety protocols is highest among college graduates, followed by junior high school graduates, elementary graduates, and non-elementary graduates.

There were 1,555 adult Filipinos, age 18 and above, who took part in the latest poll through the use of mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing. Of these survey respondents, 306 are from the NCR, 451 from Balance Luzon, 388 from the Visayas, and 410 from Mindanao.

The survey has sampling error margins of plus-minus two percent for national percentages, plus-minus six percent for Metro Manila, and plus-minus five percent each for Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

This comes after the SWS published a report on Tuesday, July 22, showing that 85 percent of Filipinos said they are “worried” that anyone in their immediate family might be infected with the virus.

The Philippines’ total COVID-19 cases have surged past 74,000, as the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 2,200 new infections on Thursday, July 23. Experts from the Univerity of the Philippines (UP) earlier projected that the nationwide COVID-19 cases tally may reach 85,000 by the end of July.

If this happens, the Palace earlier said in an interview with CNN Philippines that Metro Manila, which is under general community quarantine (GCQ) until July 31, might revert to a more stringent modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).