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Assessment of control strategies and interventions against COVID-19 in selected municipalities in Luzon

Volume: 81  ,  Issue: 1 , July    Published Date: 03 August 2021
Publisher Name: IJRP
Views: 690  ,  Download: 427 , Pages: 149 - 175    
DOI: 10.47119/IJRP100811720212131

Authors

# Author Name
1 Marsha Czarina G. Almeria
2 Elisha Gabrielle P. Anacta
3 Mervin Zhyrus A. Artillaga
4 Mary Anne B. Castro
5 Ma. Frieda Z. Hapan
6 Patricia Ann C. Jose

Abstract

With the increasing number of COVID-19 infections in the Philippines, current control strategies and interventions must be re-assessed. A comparative-descriptive study was conducted to determine, compare, and suggest which of the implemented pandemic strategies, controls, and interventions against COVID-19 are effective or needs improvement and modification in order to decrease case transmissions in four municipalities from Region III and Region IV-A namely Bauan, Batangas; Bulakan, Bulacan; Mexico, Pampanga; and Sta. Cruz, Laguna. The data was gathered through an online questionnaire divided into several sections namely: Demographic Profile, Quarantine and Isolation, Social Distancing, Contact Tracing, Testing, Establishment Closure, Perceptions, Governance, and Finance and Support. Different sets of questions were answered by municipal constituents, social workers, government employees and health workers. To determine differences in the control strategies implemented, Descriptive Analysis, ANOVA with confidence level of 95%, Chi Square Test for Independence and Pearson Correlation were utilized for data analysis and interpretation. The ratings of four municipalities in the eight categories of government control strategies and interventions were ranked to determine the strong and weak areas of each municipality. Results showed that there is a significant difference between the control strategies and interventions implemented in the municipalities of Bauan, Batangas and Sta. Cruz, Laguna while Mexico, Pampanga and Bulakan, Bulacan are not significantly different. Moreover, results of ANOVA demonstrated that there is a significant difference between the effectiveness of control strategies and interventions being implemented in the four municipalities (F = 9.418 and p <0.001). In particular, both Bauan, Batangas and Mexico, Pampanga implement control strategies and intervention that is significantly more effective than Sta. Cruz, Laguna. Perception. The results of the Pearson Chi-Square shows that there is a significant association between the age (p-value is <0.001) and occupation (p-value is 0.002) of the respondents and their perception on the effectiveness and efficacy of control strategies and interventions in their respective municipalities. Whereas there is no significant association between the gender of the respondents are their perception on the effectiveness and efficacy of control strategies and interventions (p-value is 0.656) in each municipality. Furthermore, suggestions to improve the implemented control strategies and interventions to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 were propounded.

Keywords

  • pandemic
  • COVID-19
  • control strategies
  • interventions
  • public health
  • Luzon