84% of Pinoys say ‘stay home’ measures ‘worth it’

MANILA, Philippines — Eight in every 10 Filipinos believe that the strict stay-at-home measures implemented in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic are worth it to protect the people and prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations Inc. (SWS).

The SWS mobile survey, conducted from May 4 to 10 with results released yesterday, showed that 84 percent of the 4,010 respondents agreed with the statement that the strict stay-at-home measures are worth it to protect people and limit the spread of coronavirus.

On the other hand, 15 percent believe that strict stay-at-home measures due to COVID-19 are placing too many burdens on the people.

One percent volunteered that these measures are both worth it to protect people but at the same time has become a burden to others.

The survey was patterned after a poll conducted in the US that found 80 percent of Americans saying the strict shelter-in-place measures are worth it in order to protect people and limit the spread of coronavirus.

Strict quarantine measures were implemented since March, with the community quarantine guidelines slowly easing nationwide, particularly in Metro Manila, starting last Monday.

In the SWS survey, the number of respondents who said the stay-at-home measures was worth it was high across all areas, including those places under enhanced community quarantine (84 percent) and general community quarantine (83 percent).

It is highest among college graduates and those who reached college (88 percent), followed by high school graduates (83 percent), those who reached junior high school (77 percent) and non-elementary graduates (77 percent).

The survey, which had an error margin of +/- two percent for national scores, was conducted using mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing.