CORONA VIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19): AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN

METRO MANILA DURING ENHANCED COMMUNITY QUARANTINE

_____________________________________________

Bachelor of Science in Geodetic Engineering

College of Resource Engineering, Automation and Mechanization

Pampanga State Agricultural University

PAC, Magalang, Pampanga

_____________________________________________

CRUZ, JOSEPH T.

RAMOS, FORTUNATO III D.

MAY 2020
 ABSTRACT

The Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) emergence has changed the way

we live, play, and think. Schools and businesses were closing down, sports

activities were discontinued, and several residents were asked to work from

home. Because of this, movement in the country reduced accordingly such as

transportation, industries, works, etc. which helps the environment in improving

its air quality. Therefore, the study wants to find if this pandemic happening in the

country has a significant difference on air quality improvement such that

implementing enhance community quarantine will give a bigger impact on

improving the air quality.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With deepest gratitude and appreciation, the researchers humbly give

thanks to the people who, with all they can, helped them in making their research

study a possible one. To their parents, for their unending love and support, for

their patience and understanding during their tiring days that they can’t help them

in the chores, for their never fading advices and for being there for them no

matter what. To their siblings who serve as an inspiration to them, who keep on

encouraging to always make the best out of everything and for being proud and

ever supporting sibling to them. To the institution where they studying,

Pampanga State Agricultural University, where they continuously growing as a

Bachelor of Science in Geodetic Engineering. To all their professors who shared

and continuously sharing their knowledge, with students like them and keep on

molding them into a better person. They are extending their warmest thanks

especially to their professor Engr. Genesis A. Casiño.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.............................................................................................................3

Chapter 1.....................................................................................................................................7

The Problem and Its Background..........................................................................................7

Introduction.............................................................................................................................7

Statement of the Problem....................................................................................................9

Objectives of the Study........................................................................................................9

Scope and limitation of the Study.....................................................................................9

Chapter 3....................................................................................................................................11

Methodology.............................................................................................................................11

Area of the Study.................................................................................................................11

Research Design..................................................................................................................12

Research Instrument...........................................................................................................12

Respondents of the Study.................................................................................................13

Statistical and Treatment of Data.....................................................................................13

Percentage and Frequency Distribution:...................................................................13

Weighted Mean:................................................................................................................14

Paired t – test....................................................................................................................15

Statistical Procedure...........................................................................................................15

Chapter 4....................................................................................................................................16

Results, Discussions, and Analysis....................................................................................16

 Objective 1: Significant difference between having and not having an enhance
community quarantine to air quality environment......................................................16

Objective 2: Effects of enhance community quarantine to air environment.........19

Objective 3: Highest contributor of air pollution in Metro Manila............................21

Chapter 5....................................................................................................................................22

Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendation.................................................................22

Summary................................................................................................................................22

Conclusion............................................................................................................................23

Recommendation.................................................................................................................23

APPENDICES............................................................................................................................24

APPENDIX A: AIR QUALITY INDEX.................................................................................25

APPENDIX B: SAMPLE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE....................................................26

APPENDIX C: RESPONDENTS.........................................................................................27

APPENDIX D: SAMPLE IMAGES BEFORE AND DURING ENHANCE COMMUNITY

QUARANTINE ON AIR ENVIRONMENT...........................................................................29

REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................30
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Area of the Study....................................................................................................10

Figure 2. Air Quality Index.....................................................................................................16

Figure 3. Before Enhance Community Quarantine..........................................................17

Figure 4. After Enhance Community Quarantine.............................................................17

Figure 5. Contributors to Air Environment........................................................................20

 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Likert Scale................................................................................................................14

Table 2. Paired t – test............................................................................................................16

Table 3. Effects of Enhance Community Quarantine......................................................19

Table 4. Contributors to Air Environment..........................................................................21

 Chapter 1

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

The Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) emergence has changed the way

we live, play, and think. Schools and businesses were closing down, sports

activities were discontinued, and several residents were asked to work from

home. Corona Virus is a new virus causing infectious disease. It induces airborne

illness with symptoms such as cough, nausea, and trouble breathing in more

serious cases. Being well educated about the COVID-19 virus, the illness it

causes and how it spreads is the best way to avoid and slow down transmission.

Anyone should protect themselves by constantly washing their hands, avoiding

touching their face and avoiding close contact with unwell-looking people. This

spreads mainly when they cough or sneeze, by contact with an infected person.

This often spreads when a person touches a surface or item that has the virus on

it and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth. Governments, non-

governmental organizations and experts have been urging people to stay home

to avoid the spread of the virus. The simple way of minimizing the exposure of

people to the virus is reducing travel and staying at home. Due to the ongoing

spread of coronavirus, this has been notified to the public by various health

authorities.
 On March 16, 2020, to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections,

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Philippine island of Luzon under an

enhanced community quarantine. Quarantine, broadly described as the

temporary removal of individuals suspected of being exposed to a communicable

disease, has traditionally been used as an important basic measure of public

health protection to prevent the spread of infectious disease. According to Aristos

Georgiou, the COVID-19 pandemic is inflicting havoc on countries around the

world, triggering a global health crisis and forcing economies to shut down in the

face of strict quarantine steps. But the epidemic also has an interesting impact on

Earth’s climate, as nations are limiting people’s movement.

In our daily existence, the air we breathe is a vital and essential necessity,

without it, Earth will be just like the other lifeless planets in our solar system.

Unfortunately, the air in Metro Manila that people breathe is disturbing. The main

contributor to air pollution, Perez says, is vehicle emissions. This contributes

around 69 percent to air pollution from Metro Manila. Clean Air Partnership

President Rene Pineda states that the issues stem from overpopulation, more

cars on the roads, increasing traffic congestion, and high rise buildings and

facilities such that air pollution gets stuck on the ground rather than dispersed.

Other contributing factors are hazardous waste burning; deforestation and

carbon emissions from manufacturing and agricultural industries which are heat

trapping.
 Thus, this study aims to establish if there is a difference between having

and not having an enhance community quarantine in Metro Manila on air quality

improvement. The study also defines the effects of enhanced community

quarantine in Metro Manila.

Statement of the Problem

1. Is there a significant difference between having and not having an

enhance community quarantine in Metro Manila for air quality

improvement?

2. What are the effects of enhance community quarantine to air

environment?

3. What is the biggest contributor of air pollution in Metro Manila?

Objectives of the Study

1. To determine the significant difference between having and not having

an enhance community quarantine in Metro Manila for air quality

improvement

2. To define the effects of enhance community quarantine to air

environment.

3. To determine the highest contributor of air pollution in Metro Manila

Scope and limitation of the Study

The study will concentrate on determining the significant difference

between having and not having an enhanced community quarantine to air quality

improvement. The study will cover only the data gathered from an online air

quality index. The study will also define the effects of the enhanced community

quarantine to air environment.

Definition of Terms

Coronavirus – any of a family of single-stranded RNA viruses that have a lipid

envelope studded with club-shaped projections, infect birds and many

mammals including humans, and include the causative agents

of MERS, SARS, and COVID-19. (https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/coronavirus)

Quarantine - a period of time during which an animal or person that might have

a disease is kept away from other people or animals so that

the disease cannot spread.

(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/quarantine)

Emission - is something that's been released or emitted into the world. Car

exhaust, burps, and radio broadcasts are all examples of emissions.

(https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/emission)
Hazard – is a potential source of harm or adverse health effect on a person or

persons. (https://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Hazards/)

Havoc - is defined as a lot of destruction or chaos.

(https://www.yourdictionary.com/havoc)

Chapter 3

Methodology

This chapter gives an outline of research methods used in the analysis.

This includes the area of the study,

research design, research instrument,

respondents of the study, and statistical

& treatment of data.

Area of the Study

Metropolitan Manila, oftenly

shortened as Metro Manila, officially

the National Capital Region (NCR) is

the seat of government and one of

three defined metropolitan areas in

the Philippines. It is composed of 16

cities and one municipality and has a

total land area of 619.54 square

 Figure 1. Area of the Study
Research Design

In this study, the researchers used descriptive research design with the

use of quantitative approach. Descriptive method is also known as statistical

research, says Calderon (2008). It defines population data and characteristics or

phenomenon under study. This method of research is applicable to frequencies,

averages and other statistical measurements, perhaps the safest approach in

conducting a survey study, before writing detailed analysis. Apuke (2017)

describes quantitative research methods as describing a problem or

phenomenon by collecting da in numerical form and using statistical methods to

interpret it; in particular statistics.

Research Instrument

The researchers used online research instruments as the data were

obtained from an online based application for the air quality index database.

They also used a questionnaire based type as the major tool for data gathering.
The questionnaire consists of two different type. First was about on the effects of

enhanced community quarantine to air environment and second was about the

biggest contributors to air pollution.

Respondents of the Study

The target population of the study was 100 residents who are currently

living in Metro Manila. Abbas (2018) suggested to use the rule of thumb in

determining the minimum required respondents. To have a good sample size,

researchers prefer to have multiplier of 10, for questionnaire having 5

questions/items multiplier of 10 will determine 50 good sample size.

Statistical and Treatment of Data

In this study, all the data gathered were statistically treated using

the following tools.

Percentage and Frequency Distribution: These were used to

determine the frequency counts and percentage distribution of the

respondent’s profile variables using this formula:

f
Percentage ( % )= x 100
N
where: f = frequency

N = total number of respondents

Weighted Mean: The mean of the answers was determined to provide

the average option as well as for the mean rank. It was computed using

the formula:

∑(wx)
x́=
∑x

where: ∑ = symbol for summation

x̅ = mean

w = item value

x = number of respondents
 Table 1. Likert Scale

Paired t – test. It is used to compare two population means where you

have two samples in which observations in one sample can be paired with

observations in the other sample. (Mathematics Learning Support Centre,

Rosie Shier, 2004).

Where;

x́ t = test statistic
t=
SE ( x́)
Mean Scale Interpretation Abbreviation
x́ = Mean
3.51 – 4.00 4 Strongly Agree SA
2.51 – 3.50 3 x́ ) = Standard
Agree
SE( A
1.51 – 2.50 2 Error ofDisagree
the Mean D
1 – 1.50 1 Strongly Disagree SD

Statistical Procedure

The researchers first obtain the data for air quality index database from

March 17 – April 16 in year 2019 and 2020. They used Statistical Package for the

Social Sciences (SPSS) software for faster statistical computation. The

researchers also provided questionnaires about the effects of enhanced

community quarantine and used convenience sampling technique as their

sampling method. Convenience sampling is a specific type of non-probability

sampling method that relies on data collection from population members who are

conveniently available to participate in study. Facebook polls or questions can be

mentioned as a popular example for convenience sampling.

Chapter 4

Results, Discussions, and Analysis

This part of the study presents the findings of this research based on the

gathered data and their corresponding discussions and analyses.

Objective 1: Significant difference between having and not having an

enhance community quarantine to air quality environment.

Paired Differences
95% Confidence Sig. (2-
Std. t df
Std. Interval of the tailed)
Mean Error
Deviation Difference
Mean
Lower Upper
9.93548 14.57380 2.61753 4.58977 15.28120 3.796 30 0.001

Table 2 shows the results after analysing the data using SPSS software.

the t-test result was 3.796. by using the table for t-test statistics with a degrees of

freedom of 30, the p valueTable

was 0.001 which
2. Paired is less than 0.05 for maximum
t – test
variability indicates a stronger significance between having and not having an

enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila. The table also shows the other

measurements such as the mean difference, standard deviation, standard error

of the mean, lower and upper distribution with a 95% confidence interval of the

difference. This only shows that having an enhance community quarantine helps

the environment in improving its air quality. In additional, the researchers

believed that one month with lesser pollution has a greater impact to our mother

Earth.

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr pr
- M -M -M -M -M -M -M -M -M -M -M -M -M -M -M 1-A 2-A 3-A 4-A 5-A 6-A 7-A 8-A 9-A 0-A 1-A 2-A 3-A 4-A 5-A 6-A
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

2019 2020

Figure 2. Air Quality Index

Figure 2 shows the line graph of the air quality index in Metro Manila in a

period of one month. The data shows that in year 2020, during the enhance

community quarantine, air quality was improved. As shown in the figure that in
year 2019, air quality index is very poor which only means that air pollution

increase simultaneously. This only shows that having a one-month rest produce

a bigger change to our environment. The table for Air Quality Index was

illustrated in Appendix A.
 Source: Mongabay.com

Figure 3. Before Enhance Community Quarantine

Source: Mongabay.com

Figure 4. After Enhance Community Quarantine

As shown in Figure 3, air pollution scattered throughout the area and

the wasn’t visible anymore. Hopefully, despite of the pandemic happening

in the country, air pollution become lessen as in the figure 4 shown. This

only indicates that lesser community movement and less vehicle emissions

have a big impact to air quality improvement.

Item Mean
Factors Rating Frequency Percentage Interpretation
No. Rank
SA 28 56
Reduce smog A 22 44 Strongly
1 level 3.56
D 0 0 Agree
SD 0 0
SA 34 68
Clearer sky A 16 32 Strongly
2 view 3.68
D 0 0 Agree
SD 0 0
SA 30 60
Fresh air to A 20 40 Strongly
3 breath 3.60
D 0 0 Agree
SD 0 0
SA 26 52
Decrease the A 23 46 Strongly
4 hazardous air 3.50
D 1 2 Agree
SD 0 0
Decrease SA 26 52
concentration
A 21 42 Strongly
5 of 3.46
greenhouse D 3 6 Agree
gases SD 0 0
Strongly
Overall Mean 3.56
Agree
Objective 2: Effects of enhance community quarantine to air environment

Table 3 shows that the following factors of Enhance community quarantine

to the air environment, it shows that all of the factors list on the table has the

effect to the air environment, the smog makes the sky brown or grey with the

reduce of smog level, it improves the visibility of every people. Reduce of smog

also improves the sky view. Decrease of hazardous air also known like toxic air

pollutants or air toxics, are those pollutants that are known or suspected to cause
cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects or birth

defects, or adverse environmental effects are also being reduce. Polluted air can

cause difficulty breathing, flare-ups of allergy or asthma, and other lung

problems. Long-term exposure to air pollution can raise the risk of other

diseases, including heart disease and cancer, due to (ECQ) and reduce of

hazardous air, there is a fresh air to breath than before. Decrease concentration

of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated

gases that produced by some numerous and diverse human activities which trap

heats on the atmosphere also help the air quality of the environment.
 Contributor Mean Rank Rank Order
Tobacco Smoking 3.82 4
Transportation Emissions 1.84 1
Open Burning of Garbage 2.60 3
Home Cooking 4.34 5
Combustion from Industry 2.40 2
Objective 3: Highest contributor of air pollution in Metro Manila

Table 4 shows that transportation emissions got first in the rank with a

mean of 1.84, this only indicates that vehicle emissions contribute the largest

amount of air pollution in the country. Moreover, combustion industry which got a
Table 4. Contributors to Air Environment
mean of 2.40 ranks second, open burning of garbage ranks third with a mean of

2.60, tobacco smoking ranks fourth with a mean of 3.82 and lastly home cooking

which produce the least amount of air pollution ranks fifth with a mean of 4.34.

Contributors Ranking
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Tobacco Smoking Transportation Open Burning of Home Cooking Combustion from
Emissions Garbage Industry

Contributors

Figure 3. Contributors to Air Environment

 Chapter 5

Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendation

Summary

As one of the most essential needed by individuals, air quality must be

protected. Despite of the occurrences happening in the world, we never know

that the corona virus disease helps our nature in bringing back it’s natural

diversity. Because of the pandemic, transportation emissions have been

decreased, operation of industries reduced, and community movement also

decreased, these are some of the factors that helps improving the air quality.

The researchers conduct an online survey which determines the highest

contributors of air pollution and the effect of enhance community to air quality.

They also tested the significant difference between having and not having an

enhance community to air quality improvement. The study revealed that there is

a high significance to having an enhance community quarantine. This only

indicates that having a community quarantine helps our nature. The study also

reveals that majority of the respondents were strongly agreeing about the effects

of the enhance community quarantine which are; reduce smog level, clearer sky

view, fresh air to breath, decrease the hazardous air, and decrease concentration

of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, transportation emissions and combustion

from industry contributes highest amount to air pollution.

Conclusion

The study concluded the following:

1. There is a significant difference between having and not having an

enhance community quarantine in Metro Manila with a significant level of

0.001 which indicates a highly significance.

2. Enhance community quarantine gave a good effect to air quality

improvement wherein air pollution level decreased due to the low number

of vehicles running. Some factors which resulted because of the

quarantine are; reduce smog level, clearer sky view, fresh air to breath,

decrease the hazardous air, and decrease concentration of greenhouse

gases which helps the improvement of air quality.

3. The highest contributor to air pollution was transportation emissions and

combustion from industries.

Recommendation

The study recommends the following:

1. One-month rest for improving the air quality in the country. This must be

done yearly to reduce the level of air pollution.

2. Reduce number of vehicles running in an area to improve more the air

quality in an area. Less movement results to less pollution. Having a

cleaner air makes life longer.

APPENDICES
 APPENDIX A: AIR QUALITY INDEX

Day 2019 2020

March 17 70 43
March 18 57 41
March 19 54 57
March 20 43 52
March 21 55 31
March 22 64 67
March 23 65 45
March 24 48 47
March 25 84 47
March 26 62 36
March 27 51 53
March 28 68 82
March 29 54 42
March 30 73 57
March 31 44 36
April 1 51 42
April 2 26 23
April 3 36 35
April 4 53 42
April 5 51 35
April 6 68 29
April 7 79 43
April 8 65 54
April 9 53 54
April 10 56 56
April 11 44 59
April 12 70 65
April 13 72 58
April 14 56 29
April 15 64 60
April 16 71 79
Air Quality Index
APPENDIX B: SAMPLE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
APPENDIX C: RESPONDENTS
APPENDIX D: SAMPLE IMAGES BEFORE AND DURING ENHANCE

COMMUNITY QUARANTINE ON AIR ENVIRONMENT

Source: Frank Schuengel

 REFERENCES

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test.pdf

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Environment, With Reduced CO2, Better Air Quality and Animals Roaming City

Streets” retrieved last May 16, 2020 from

https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-major-impact-environment-co2-air-

quality-animals-1493812

Mongabay.com (2020). “Manila gets its skyline back as air quality improves

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improves-amid-covid-19-lockdown/

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https://www.france24.com/en/20200322-air-quality-is-improving-in-countries-

coronavirus-quarantine-pollution-environment

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