ILOILO City – In the face of more than 4,000 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections and almost a hundred of deaths here, many Ilonggos are still shrugging off the dangers of the viral disease, a survey conducted by Random Access Consultants Inc. (RACI) revealed.
This alarmed Mayor Jerry Treñas. He underscored the need for a wider and strengthened information drive about COVID-19 that crept into the metro roughly eight months ago.
“The [RACI] findings motivate us to strengthen our information drive to provide awareness to the community,” Treñas said.
The RACI survey, commissioned by the city government, was conducted among 200 respondents aged 18 years to 60 years old all over the seven districts of the city.
Its objective was to know people’s COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and behavior so the city government could look for possible solutions.
“We will continue to look for strategies to flatten the curve and secure the safety of every Ilonggos. Let us work together and continue to observe the protocols to combat the virus,” the city mayor said.
University of the Philippines-Visayas professor and sociologist Lisa Baliao of RACI presented the findings of the survey Friday last week to members of the Iloilo City COVID-19 team.
In an interview over Aksyon Radyo Iloilo, Baliao said the team was surprised and alarmed by the survey results – majority believed they were not prone to the coronavirus.
Among other findings, most of the respondents also believed that those who were susceptible to the viral disease were individuals aging 60 years old and above and those below five years old.
Iloilo City cases have been declining for the past days.
From Nov. 1 to 5, the city recorded an average of 16 cases a day, a significant decrease from last month’s 23 and 46 average daily count.
Also, since Oct. 1, the city still has 22 barangays without COVID-19 cases registered.
According to Treñas, the city government is currently looking for funds dedicated for the vaccines of the residents of the city./PN
