Filipinos are still worried about catching the new coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) Survey.

The survey, conducted from July 3 to 6 among 1,555 respondents, found that 85 percent of Filipinos are worried (consisting of 67 percent worried a great deal and 18 percent somewhat worried) about anyone in their immediate family catching COVID-19, while 8 percent worried a little, and only 7 percent are not worried at all.
SWS said the percentage hardly changed from results gathered in May, where 87 percent worried (73 percent worried a great deal, 14 percent somewhat worried), 7 percent worried a little, and 7 percent were not worried about catching the virus.
It added that compared to past surveys, worry about catching COVID-19 is greater than worries about catching Ebola, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
The worry (percentage of worried a great deal and percentage of somewhat worried) is highest in Metro Manila at 92 percent, followed by Balance Luzon at 87 percent, the Visayas at 85 percent, and Mindanao at 77 percent.
Meanwhile, worry about catching COVID-19 hardly changed among women, barely moving from 86 percent to 87 percent in May 2020. It declined slightly among men, from 87 percent to 83 percent.
By age group, it rose among those aged 18-24, up from 84 percent to 88 percent.
SWS also said worry about catching the virus was highest among college graduates at 89 percent, followed by junior high school graduates at 86 percent, elementary graduates at 80 percent, and non-elementary graduates at 79 percent.
Coronavirus cases in the country number at 72,269.
Data were gathered through mobile phone interviews of adult Filipinos 18 years old and above, randomly drawn from a database of mobile phone numbers compiled from SWS national and subnational representative face-to-face surveys since 2017.
SWS noted the sampling error margins of ±2% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, and ±5% for Balance Luzon, ±5% Visayas, and ±5% in Mindanao.