SWS sees drop in compliance with COVID-19 protocols in Visayas, Mindanao

In its latest survey, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) saw a decrease in compliance to safety protocols against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Visayas and Mindanao.

The SWS conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide, where they presented four practices to prevent the spread of the virus and asked them how often they have done those.

The pollster found that 75 percent of the survey respondents said they always use a face mask when going out of the house, 67 percent said they always wash their hands several times a day, 58 percent said they always maintain physical distancing, and 53 percent said they always wear a face shield.

The percentage of individuals who always use a face mask was highest in Balance Luzon with 80 percent, then Metro Manila with 78 percent, Visayas with 72 percent, and Mindanao with 64 percent.

This increased in Balance Luzon by four points, while Metro Manila’s percentage “hardly changed” from 77 percent in September 2020.

The percentage in Visayas and Mindanao, however, decreased by 14 points each.

Metro Manila, meanwhile, has the highest percentage of those who always wash their hands with 76 percent, followed by Balance Luzon with 71 percent, Visayas with 69 percent, and Mindanao with 52 percent.

“It fell in Mindanao (down by 13 points from 69%) and the Visayas (down by 6 points from 75%),” the survey showed

Those who always wash their hands climbed up by 13 points in Metro Manila and by seven points in Balance Luzon.

In terms of maintaining physical distancing, Balance Luzon has the highest percentage of compliance to it with 66 percent. Metro Manila came second with 65 percent, Visayas with 52 percent, and Mindanao with 42 percent.

The percentage of the individuals who always keep physical distance grew by 10 points in Balance Luzon and remained at 65 percent in Metro Manila, but it fell by 18 points in Mindanao and by 14 points in Visayas.

Moreover, Metro Manila has the highest percentage of those who always wear a face shield when going out of their homes with 66 percent, followed by Balance Luzon with 62 percent, Mindanao with 43 percent, and Visayas with 35 percent.

Metro Manila and Balance Luzon’s percentages of those who always use a face shield went up by 11 points and 10 points, respectively. However, it declined by 31 points in Visayas and by 15 points in Mindanao.

The survey was conducted from April 28 to May 2, 2021, with sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages and ±6 percent for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The SWS earlier released a survey, showing that 89 percent of Filipinos are worried about catching COVID-19. It also reported that the Filipinos’ outlook on the COVID-19 crisis worsened because the percentage of those fearing that the “worst is yet to come” in connection with the pandemic rose to 49 percent from the 31 percent who believed the same in November 2020.