COVID-19 has transformed our daily lives in both tangible and intangible ways. How we feel, communicate and spend our days continues to rapidly change, with the full impact still to be seen. But, as we collectively stop to hear the day’s new numbers at Gov. DeWine and Amy Acton’s 2pm press conference, we are all confronting one simple truth: data provides comforting clarity during uncertain times.
Through Google’s newly-launched Community Mobility Reports, we can get a glimpse at how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted our daily movements.
To do this, Google is using the same “aggregated, anonymized data” from Google Maps that tells us when a specific public place, like a local business or museum, is most likely to be crowded. That technology, which relies on the Location History setting of cellphones, tracks the daily movement trends of communities across categories, such as retail and recreation, workplaces, groceries and pharmacies, parks, and more. Those findings are compared to the average, which Google defines as “baseline,” to chart increases and decreases in movement activity.
So, what have we learned about what flattening the curve looks like locally?
The movement trends of Lucas County residents has changed in the following ways:
- Up 78% at parks
- Up 10% at home* (clarification on this category provided at the end of the article)
- Down 52% at restaurants, cafes, shopping centers, museums, libraries, and other retail and recreation places
- Down 25% at groceries and pharmacies
- Down 21% at transit stations
- Down 35% in workplaces
Across the state, the movement trends of Ohioan has changed in the following ways:
- Up 117% at parks
- Up 10% at home* (clarification on this category provided at the end of the article)
- Down 43% at restaurants, cafes, shopping centers, museums, libraries, and other retail and recreation places
- Down 19% at groceries and pharmacies
- Down 33% at transit stations
- Down 35% in workplaces
The full report, which includes data tracked from February 16 through March 29, is available here.
*It’s worth noting a few things concerning home category, which is defined by Google as “mobility trends for places of residence.” Mobility trends are not defined by the amount of time spent in an area, but rather the amount of movement recorded by a phone within a specific place. Unless I’m the only person who does not clutch my cellphone while walking around my home, we can assume our perception of those results are slightly skewed, especially when compared to other categories where phones are typically on the person in a pocket or purse. Google has not yet released additional information clarifying the results of the “home” category, but I think it is safe to assume that these results are not implying that Ohioans are spending only 10% more time at home.
