MANILA, Philippines — As the government relentlessly pushes for the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a national survey released Friday found that only a little over half of working Filipinos would be comfortable returning to work even if lockdown measures were to be lifted.
The Social Weather Stations conducted the national mobile phone survey from July 3 to 6, interviewing 1,555 Filipinos who were 18 years old and above.
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Even less than those comfortable returning to work, only 45% of Filipino adults said they would feel comfortable attending religious gatherings even if community quarantine were to end in August.
SWS found that comfort about going to work and attending religious services is highest in Mindanao, at 64% and 56% respectively.
55% of respondents from Balance Luzon, 50% from Visayas and 45% from Metro Manila, the epicenter of the country's novel coronavirus outbreak, said they were either very or fairly comfortable about returning to work.
For religious services, trailing after Mindanao in terms of comfort levels were Visayas at 47%, Balance Luzon at 40%, and Metro Manila at 39%.
The survey also found that Muslims were the most comfortable about attending religious services at 71%, followed by Iglesia ni Cristos at 47%, other non-Christian religions at 42% and Roman Catholics at 41%.
The Philippines is currently under the longest community quarantine period in the world, with Friday marking its 135th day.
Despite this lockdown, infections continue to surge, with Thursday marking an all-time high in daily COVID-19 cases with 3,954 reported by the Department of Health.
This grim milestone brought the country's total caseload up to 89,374 and its death toll to 1,983 with 23 more fatalities recorded on Thursday.
President Rodrigo Duterte, in an address aired Friday, extended general community quarantine in Metro Manila until August 15. — Bella Perez-Rubio