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Survey finds Bandung residents more afraid of job loss than COVID-19
The majority of people surveyed on the streets of Bandung were found to be breaking the stay-at-home policy in order to make a living.
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A worker from the Bandung Health Agency checks the temperature of a truck driver on April 22 at Jl. Pasteur in Bandung, West Java. (JP/Arya Dipa)
M
any people are venturing out of their homes in Bandung, West Java, despite the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) because they fear losing their jobs more than they fear contracting COVID-19, a recent city survey has found.
The survey, which canvassed 310 passersby at eight different locations in the city, found that 62 percent of respondents had ventured out of their homes because they were afraid of losing their jobs. Meanwhile, 26 percent of respondents said they had come into the city because they were worried that their incomes would fall if they stayed at home.
Only 10 percent of respondents said they were afraid of contracting the coronavirus, while a mere 2 percent said they were afraid of dying of COVID-19.
Thirty-seven percent of the survey participants were entrepreneurs, 32 percent were employees, 13 percent informal workers and the remaining 18 percent were public servants, including soldiers and police officers.
Read also: Greater Jakartans show low awareness of physical distancing measures despite PSBB: Survey
Transportation and parking management head Khairul Rizal of the Bandung Transportation Agency, who was in charge of the PSBB Survey, said that the survey was a randomized roadside interview. Random motorists were asked to participate in the survey as well as answer written questions from the Bandung Planning, Research and Development Agency.
“Based on the survey results, 75 percent of the respondents spend more than six hours on average outside their homes every day, while the remaining respondents stay outdoors for two hours or less," Rizal said in a statement on Tuesday.
The PSBB in Bandung ended on Tuesday. Mayor Oded M. Danial has decided not to apply for an extension and instead wait for the end of the province-wide PSBB on May 20.
On Tuesday, the city of Bandung recorded 235 confirmed cases with 35 deaths. West Java is the second-hardest hit province in the country after Jakarta, with at least 1,300 confirmed cases and 87 deaths as of Tuesday. (vny)
