The use of mobile data to help monitor the movements of citizens is one of the central parts of government’s track and trace policies.  New research, from Boston University, also highlights how it can be used to monitor the effectiveness of social distancing measures.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic started, it was really a natural fit for our team to start brainstorming ideas about how Google could contribute meaningful insights to help guide the global public health response to the pandemic,” the researchers say.

The researchers find that the emergency measures resulted in a 10% reduction in time spent away from our primary residence.  What’s more, implementation of physical distancing policies also resulted in an extra 25% reduction, with a 33% reduction in visits to recreational locations and retail stores.  In addition, a further 29% reduction was achieved by shelter-in-place regulations.

“The limits on bars and restaurants seems to be the single policy that was associated with the greatest reduction of population mobility,” the researchers explain.

Reduced mobility

As the data suggests, areas with a combination of measures saw the biggest reduction in movement among residents.  The data also showed that people were spending considerably more time in parks than they were prior to the pandemic.

The reports were compiled using anonymized data collected from users in much the same way as Google Maps compiles data to show how busy particular locations are.

These maps have been used by the team to explore mobility trends during the pandemic, which, alongside the policies enacted by various regions, allow them to explore the effectiveness, and impact, of those measures.

“A reasonable question for a local official or governor to ask is, ‘Which of these policies, or combination of policies, will give us the results that are best suited to the pandemic here, and the economy here, and the public health here in my state?’” the researchers conclude.