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Australia can use population level mobility data to fight COVID‐19
Author(s) -
Adams Lucinda,
Adams Robert J,
Bastiampillai Tarun
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja2.50773
Subject(s) - covid-19 , population , pandemic , geography , medicine , virology , environmental health , outbreak , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Apple mobility data2 were used as a measure of social mobility and were assumed to correlate with social distancing observance. We extracted available data for 22 cities across nine regions from all six populated continents in a systematic manner to gain a broad cross-section. These data were then mapped against local government action taken from official websites. We found worldwide populations reduced their movement before and even without stay-at-home orders (Box; Supporting Information, Figures 1–9). Across all cities examined, movement below baseline was seen on average 13 days (median, 9 days) before government enforced stay-at-home orders.2 Mean reduction in walking before stay-at-home orders was 45% (range, 22–77%).2 For the majority of cities examined, movement voluntarily decreased sharply around 12 March 2020,2 which in any other situation would appear coordinated and uniform to military level precision (Box; Supporting Information, Figures 1–9). The consistency of these data across diverse populations and environments suggests this behaviour is not only driven by strict government restrictions or political pressure within regions. In Sydney, Australia’s COVID-19 hotspot at the time, population movement