America’s social distancing: How the U.S. came to an almost standstill in March

America’s social distancing: How the U.S. came to an almost standstill in March

By Anne Rowe for DPS board, April 11, 2020

America’s social distancing: How the U.S. came to an almost complete standstill in March as coronavirus spread – but the elderly were slower to react and blue collar workers still had to travel

  • Large sections of public life came to a standstill over the month of March as the novel coronavirus spread
  • Officials shut down schools, ordered restaurants and bars to close and issued stay-at-home orders 
  • But the public policy response hasn’t been uniform, and not everybody has stayed close to home
  • People in cities and urban areas were more likely to change their travel habits, especially in early March 
  • By the end of the month, most U.S. residents were traveling dramatically less than they did in February
  • But social and demographic differences were strong predictors of how much that changed 

By Reuters

Published: | Updated:

Large sections of public life came to a standstill over the month of March as the novel coronavirus spread across the United States. 

State and local governments shut down schools, ordered restaurants and other businesses to close and issued stay-at-home orders for millions. 

But the public policy response hasn’t been uniform, and not everybody has stayed close to home.

Data shows the elderly were slower to react and blue collar workers still had travel for their jobs.  

The first week of March was the last normal workweek for most parts of the country. Blue and green represents less travel; red and yellow, more travel through the Reuters graphs featured. Pictured is week of March 2-6 

By the second week, travel was down in many places, especially in Seattle, the site of the first major outbreak in the US

By the week of March 16-20, many Americans were no longer commuting, especially in urban cores like New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Denver

And by the end of March, most of the country was staying close to home

Information shared with Reuters by the Kochava Collective shows which counties saw people, and their phones, travel longer or shorter distances in the first few weeks of March than they did in February. 

The first week of March was the last normal workweek for most parts of the country.

By the second week, travel was down in many places, especially in Seattle, the site of the first major outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States.

By the week of March 16-20, many Americans were no longer commuting, especially in urban cores like New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Denver.

And by the end of March, most of the country was staying close to home.    

The US death toll skyrocketed to 9,662 Sunday and the number of cases surged to 337,915 Americans infected by the killer virus. 

Anonymized smartphone data in the United States shows some interesting trends. 

People age 65 and older are among those at the highest risk from COVID-19. But in many counties with higher concentrations of seniors, people were slower to change their travel habits

Counties with more young people were more likely to see a reduction in travel. They also tend to be more concentrated in urban areas

Residents of counties that voted for Trump, which also tend to be more urban, were less likely to change their travel habits

People in larger cities and urban corridors were more likely to change their travel habits, especially in early March. 

By the end of the month, most U.S. residents were traveling dramatically less than they did in February, but social and demographic differences were strong predictors of how much that changed. 

People in lower income counties were more likely to continue traveling. For many social distancing is a privilege, especially for blue collar workers or those in the service sector who are less likely to be able to work from home

Behavior in urban and rural counties also contrasted sharply. The most populated counties (largest circles) decreased travel the most dramatically. 

Residents of counties that voted for Trump in 2016, which also tend to be more urban, were less likely to change their travel habits. 

Counties with more young people were more likely to see a reduction in travel. They also tend to be more concentrated in urban areas. 

Behavior in urban and rural counties also contrasted sharply. The most populated counties (largest circles) decreased travel the most dramatically

People in lower income counties were more likely to continue traveling. For many social distancing is a privilege, especially for blue collar workers or those in the service sector who are less likely to be able to work from home

People age 65 and older are among those at the highest risk from COVID-19. But in many counties with higher concentrations of seniors, people were slower to change their travel habits.   

Location data from smartphones has been used by governments and public health officials to fight the outbreaks in South Korea and Singapore. 

By tracing the movement and contacts of people who have been infected, officials have been able to inform people who may have been exposed. 

The strategy faces regulatory hurdles in the United States and Europe, where privacy restrictions prevent sharing of personal data. 

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