THE ASSOCIATION OF COVID-19 CASES WITH THE SOCIAL AMELIORATION PROGRAM (SAP) AND POPULATION DENSITY: A GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic prompts the government to lock down communities and spread safety nets through subsidies to control the contagion. Consequently, the strict lockdowns refrained individuals from venturing outside and impacted their reliance on the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) from the government. This study attempts to assess the effect of SAP distribution in highly populated cities in Metro Manila in the situation of possible increase of COVID-19 contagion. The geospatial analysis showed a significant association between the SAP distribution and high population density being vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The cities of Manila, Caloocan, and Quezon City pose the highest risk for individuals defined by the ratio of correct predictions to the overall occurrence of the predicted COVID-19 cases.