79% see protocol violators as cause of COVID-19 spread – SWS

by Janvic Mateo (The Philippine Star), 30 May 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Eight in every 10 Filipinos believe that health protocol violators are the cause of the spread of COVID-19 in the country, a recent survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The survey, conducted from April 28 to May 2 with the results released on Friday, showed 79 percent of the 1,200 adult respondents believing that the spread of COVID-19 is due to people not following health protocols.

Eleven percent attributed it to lack of government preparation, while 10 percent said it was due to a new variant of COVID-19.

Large majorities across all areas also believe that the spread of the viral illness is due to health protocol violators, with the highest in Balance Luzon at 81 percent, followed by those in Metro Manila and the Visayas at 79 percent and those in Mindanao at 73 percent.

Seventeen percent of respondents from Mindanao attributed it to a new COVID variant, significantly higher than those from the Visayas (10 percent), Metro Manila (nine percent) and the rest of Luzon (six percent).

Twelve percent of the respondents from Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon attributed it to lack of government preparation, closely followed by those in the Visayas (11 percent) and Mindanao (10 percent).

The same survey also asked the respondents who they think is the most responsible for stopping the spread of the virus. The respondents were given six responses to choose from and were only allowed one answer.

Thirty-three percent answered “myself,” while 31 percent responded that it is the responsibility of the national government.

It was followed by “members of the community” (15 percent), “local government” (nine percent), “my family” (eight percent) and “health workers” (four percent).

Those seeing themselves as being responsible to stop the spread of COVID-19 is highest among respondents from Balance Luzon at 37 percent, followed by those in the Visayas at 34 percent, Metro Manila at 30 percent and Mindanao at 26 percent.

At 40 percent, more respondents in Mindanao believe that it is the responsibility of the national government. It was followed by those in Balance Luzon and the Visayas at 29 percent each and those from Metro Manila at 26 percent.

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews and has a sampling error margin of +/- three percent for the national percentages.