MAJORITY of Filipinos are convinced the “worst is yet to come” in the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis while three out of 10 said the “worst is behind us,” the July 3 to 6 mobile phone survey of the Social Weather Stations showed.
The survey, which involved 1,555 Filipinos and had a sampling error margin of ±2 percent, showed that more Filipinos or 57 percent believe the COVID situation will still get worse (up from 47 percent in May) while 35 percent (down from up from 44 percent) said the worst already behind us. Eighth percent did not give any answer.
SWS said the fear that “the worst is yet to come” was highest in Metro Manila with 70 percent (up from 50 percent in May) followed by the Visayas at 61 percent (up from 54 percent), Luzon at 56 percent (up from 43 percent) and Mindanao at 49 percent (barely changing from 48 percent).
More people from Mindanao believe that “the worst is behind us” with 41 percent (barely changing from 42 percent in May), followed by Luzon with 35 percent (down from 49 percent), the Visayas with 33 percent (down from 38 percent), and Metro Manila with 26 percent (down from 43 percent).
SWS said belief that the “worst is yet to come” is more prevalent among those with more education or highest among those who are college graduates (63 percent), followed by junior high school graduates (59 percent), non-elementary graduates (50 percent), and elementary graduates (49 percent).
More non-elementary graduates believe that the “the worst is behind us” with 41 percent, followed by those who are elementary graduates (38 percent), junior high school graduates 34 percent, and college graduates (33 percent).
As of this writing, there are now 272,934 cases of the COVID-19 in the Philippines after 3,550 new infections were recorded, the Department of Health (DOH) said
.
The latest data of the DOH as of Sept. 16 showed that of the total number of cases, 60,344 are considered active cases. Of the active cases, 87.7 percent are mild cases, 8.4 percent are asymptomatic cases, 2.7 percent are critical cases, and 1.2 percent are severe cases. (J. Montemayor, Malaya)