9 in 10 Filipinos worry family members could catch COVID-19 — SWS

Nine in 10 adult Filipinos are concerned that members of their immediate family could catch the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), latest survey showed.

The Social Weather Sta

tion (SWS) survey conducted from Nov. 21 to 25 revealed that 91 percent of adult Filipinos are worried that their immediate family members could get COVID-19, 77 percent were worried a great deal and 14 percent were somewhat worried.

The SWS observed that the survey is a record high compared to surveys it conducted since May last year.

“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),” it said in a statement.

The previous record high survey was conducted in May which showed that 87 percent adult Filipinos feared that immediate family members could get COVID-19, 73 percent were worried a great deal and 14 percent were somewhat worried.

The SWS said the Nov. 21 to 25 survey used face-to-face interviews nationwide of 1,500 Filipino adults aged 18 years old and above.

Those interviewed include 600 in Balance Luzon and 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The SWS said the sampling error margins are ±2.5 percent for national percentages, ±4 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±6 percent for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

“The area estimates were weighted by the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2020 to obtain the national estimates,” SWS said.

“The survey item on worry about catching COVID-19 was non-commissioned. It was included on SWS's own initiative and released as a public service,” it added.