Filipinos are divided over the accuracy of government-released Covid-19 statistics, with only 23 percent agreeing with the numbers, results of a nationwide survey released on Thursday showed.
The Social Weather Stations (SWS) started fieldwork on Sept. 17 and finished on Sept. 20, when the country’s Covid-19 case count was at 224,264.
Of 1,249 respondents, 39 percent thought the total number of cases was “over-reported” or “probably more than the real number.” Thirty-one percent said it was “under-reported” or “probably less than the real number.”
Filipinos were also split on the accuracy of the country’s casualty count.
“There is also no consensus on the accuracy of the number of Covid-19 deaths being reported by the government: 34 percent say it is probably over-reported, 27 percent say it is probably right and 34 percent say it is probably under-reported,” the SWS noted.
The number of those who deemed accurate the number of Covid-19 positive cases reported by the government was lowest among college graduates (18 percent) and junior high school graduates (22 percent).
Forty-four percent of junior high school graduates and 39 percent of college graduates considered the tally over-reported, while 34 percent of non-elementary graduates and 33 percent of college graduates believed it was under-reported.
The Philippines has recorded 376,935 Covid-19 cases as of Oct. 29. John Ezekiel J. Hirro