MANILA, Philippines — Nearly eight in 10 Filipinos are still worried about catching COVID-19 three years after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, according to a survey of Social Weather Stations released on Monday.
The survey conducted from Dec. 10 to 14, 2022 showed that 78% of adult Filipinos remain worried about contracting COVID-19.
Fifty-nine percent of the 1,200 adult respondents are “worried a great deal” and 18% are “somewhat worried” about getting COVID-19. Meanwhile, 9% are “worried a little” and 13% are “not worried about it.”
The pollster noted that worry about catching the virus remains unchanged since June 2022.
The Philippines has so far confirmed more than four million COVID-19 cases, including over 66,000 deaths, since the health crisis began in early 2020.
Recently, the Department of Health has been recording fewer than 1,000 infections per week. There are currently 9,223 active cases in the country.
The state of calamity over COVID-19 lapsed on Dec. 31, 2022.
The survey also showed that 93% of Filipinos are hopeful that the country has surpassed the worst of COVID-19 while only 6% said the worst of the health crisis is yet to come.
“Since December 2021, large majorities say the worst is behind us,” the polling firm said.
The survey was done through face-to-face interviews across the country. It had a sampling error margin of +/-2.8 percent.