SWS: 89% Pinoys worried about contracting COVID-19

Eighty-nine percent Filipinos are worried that they will be infected with the coronavirus disease more than a year into the pandemic, Social Weather Stations survey result showed on Thursday.

This, even as the government makes headway in its vaccination roll out, which started nearly three months ago.

In a survey taken from April 28 to May 2, 2021, SWS said 70% have a great deal of worry and 19% are somewhat worried about contracting the severe viral ailment.

Meanwhile, 11% are a little or not worried about catching the virus.

The Philippines has fully vaccinated more than 1.2 million individuals against COVID-19 as of May 30, the Department of Health had said.

A total of 5,180,721 doses have been administered nationwide, the department added.

"Compared to past SWS surveys, worry about catching Covid-19 is much greater than worries about catching previous viruses such as Ebola, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)," read the report.

The pollster also found that 49% Filipinos believed that the worst is yet to come  while 50% Filipinos said "the worst is behind us" amid the ongoing health crisis.

Meanwhile, SWS said Filipinos are more worried about the infection than Americans in 2020.

In a November 2020 Gallup survey, only 59% Americans are worried of getting the coronavirus.

"This was lower than the 63% to 79% range from May 2020 to June 2020," the pollster said in its report.

A total of 1,200 adults were interviewed for the 2021 Q1 SWS survey. Of the number, 300 each were from  Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

"The sampling error margins are ±3% for national percentages and ±6% for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao," SWS said, adding that the survey items were non-commissioned.

"The area estimates were weighted by the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2021 to obtain the national estimates," it added.

In the report, the pollster asked its respondents: "Kayo po ba ay nababahala o hindi nababahala na kayo o sino man sa inyong pamilya ay MAGKASAKIT ng Covid-19? Kayo po ba ay… (READ OUT)? (LUBOS NA NABABAHALA, MEDYO NABABAHALA, NABABAHALA NANG KAUNTI, o HINDI NABABAHALA)" [“Are you worried or not worried that you or someone in your immediate family might CATCH Covid-19? Are you… (READ OUT)? (WORRIED A GREAT DEAL, SOMEWHAT WORRIED, WORRIED A LITTLE, or NOT WORRIED)”].

“Alin po sa mga ito ang mas naglalarawan sa inyong nararamdaman tungkol sa krisis sa Covid-19 sa Pilipinas? Sa tingin po ninyo… LUMIPAS NA ANG PINAKAMALALA o MAS LALALÁ PA ITO? (ROTATE OPTIONS)” [“Which of the following best describes your feelings about the Covid-19 crisis in the Philippines? Do you think… the worst is behind us or the worst is yet to come?”].—LDF, GMA News