Most Asean workers not keen to return to workplaces: Poll

Personnel from the Marikina City sanitation office disinfects a classroom at Sta. Elena High School following the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the city on March 9. The STAR/Walter Bollozos. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

SINGAPORE, Sep 14, 2020, BT. Residents are divided across the Asean-6 economies on whether they should leave the home for work and other activities, amid the deadly Covid-19 outbreak in the region, The Business Times reported.

Across the board, the majority of workers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam reported that they have actively avoided working outside their homes.

The share of work-from-home aficionados ranged from 52 per cent in Indonesia, to 65 per cent in Singapore and 75 per cent in the Philippines.

But willingness to head out for other reasons also reflected the number of local virus cases, according to YouGov, which polled more than 36,000 adults between end-March and late June.

Just 12 per cent of Vietnamese, 15 per cent of Thais and 18 per cent of Indonesians said that they had stayed home the day before.

That was against 35 per cent of Singaporeans and 39 per cent of Malaysians. Meanwhile, Filipinos were the most cautious, with 45 per cent not leaving the house in the past day.

All interviews for the YouGov study, which was held in conjunction with Imperial College London, were carried out online. Results were weighted to be nationally representative.

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