With the exception of livelihood aid, most Filipinos say government actions against COVID-19 are ‘adequate’

MANILA – Most Filipinos said the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was “adequate” except to provide aid to those who lost their jobs, according to an independent survey released on Saturday.

Social Weather Stations said that in terms of helping people who were left without work by the pandemic,

Forty-four percent said the government’s efforts to help people made jobless by the pandemic were “adequate,” while 46 percent said they were inadequate and 9 percent were undecided.

Net adequacy, or the percentage adequate minus percentage inadequate score, was lowest in Metro Manila (-15), followed by Balance Luzon (-2), Mindanao (-1) and Visayas (+4).

The COVID-19 pandemic, which dragged the economy into recession in the second quarter, has left 4.6 million Filipinos unemployed through July, according to the state statistics agency.

Meanwhile, 71 percent found “appropriate” government action ensuring the public has enough information on how to combat COVID-19, 22 percent said it was “inappropriate” and 6 percent were undecided.

Sentiment was higher in Mindanao (+52) and Visayas (+51) than in Balance Luzon (+47) and Metro Manila (+45).

About 67 percent said government actions to ensure extensive contact tracing were “adequate,” 37 percent said they were “inadequate,” and 9 percent were undecided.

It was highest among residents of Balance Luzon (+49), followed by Visayas (+47), Mindanao (+37) and Metro Manila (+29).

The government recently hired nearly 50,000 additional contact trackers in an attempt to stop community transmission of the virus.

The survey also found that 54 percent of those surveyed said government efforts to ensure affordable coronavirus tests were “adequate,” while 33 percent said they were “inappropriate” and 11 percent were. undecided.

Net adequacy was highest in Visayas (+28), followed by Mindanao (+25), Balance Luzon (+18) and Metro Manila (+16).

The health department said it turned to other laboratories to test for coronavirus after the Philippine Red Cross stopped service to the government due to debts from state insurer PhilHealth worth 1 billion pesos.

The September 17-20 survey was conducted using a mobile phone and computer-assisted and 1,249 adult Filipinos were interviewed. It had a sampling error margin of ± 3 percent for national percentages.

The Philippines confirmed 2,379 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 356,618.