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SWS finds most Filipinos still observing COVID-19 safety measures
FILE: PHYSICAL DISTANCING. A security guard directs shoppers to observe the safe physical distancing and checks their body temperature before they are allowed to enter the Central Mall on E. Aguinaldo Highway corner Salitran, Salitran 2, Dasmariñas City, Cavite.
Mall goers are also required to wear a face mask and face shield. (PNA photo by Gil Calinga)
A large number of Filipinos continue to comply with safety measures implemented to fight coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Based on the result of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, it was shown that 79 percent of Filipinos “always” wear face masks when going out of their homes, 67 percent “always” wash their hands several times a day, 60 percent “always” keep physical distance, and 56 percent “always” use face shields on public transportation or going inside establishments like malls, markets, or drugstores.
The survey was conducted from September 17 to 20 to 1,249 Filipinos nationwide. It was the first time that the pollster asked its respondents about the practice of using a face shield.
The SWS noted that those who always use face masks increased “slightly” from the 76 percent recorded in July, while the number of those who wash their hands “hardly changed” from the 65 percent in July.
This is the same for those who keep physical distance as the number “hardly changed” with its one percentage point increase from the 59 percent last July.
In terms of areas, the number of those who always use face masks, wash their hands, keep physical distance, and wear face shields were all seen highest in the Visayas.
The pollster used mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing to conduct the survey.
It has a sampling error margin of plus-minus three percent for national percentages, plus-minus six percent for Metro Manila, plus-minus five percent for Balance Luzon, plus-minus six percent for the Visayas, and plus-minus six percent for Mindanao.
This was released after the SWS published the survey where it reported that the number of Filipinos who are worried about contracting the deadly virus remains high at 85 percent.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier placed Metro Manila, as well as Batangas and the cities of Tacloban, Bacolod, Iligan, and Iloilo, under the general community quarantine (GCQ) until the end of October.
