Recently, in light of the COVID-19 crisis, Google started issuing mobility reports comparing the level of activity in countries around the world by types of places.
By YAIR ASSAF-SHAPIRAActivity in Workplaces in Select Countries, Mid February to the end of April, 2020(photo credit: GOOGLE)
If you search for a location on Google, the result will often include the type of place it is (grocery, public park, etc.), and the average number of people who visit, delineated by week, day and hour. The number of visitors is estimated by Google’s algorithm, based on the location data coming from our mobile phones through the Android operating system, when location history is enabled.Recently, in light of the COVID-19 crisis, Google started issuing mobility reports comparing the level of activity in countries around the world by types of places. Each day is compared to the same day of the week in the pre-corona period. The data show that most countries are exiting from the shutdown. Israel is no different in that sense, but might be doing so at a faster pace.After Purim, there was, according to the data, one more day of return to work at almost full-scale (March 12), followed by a steep decline in the activity in workplaces, which reached a negative peak at 60% lower than usual from March 26-April 6. Passover eve, Saturdays, holidays and Election Day saw lower work volumes.A similar trend has also prevailed in the activities in other types of places. Restaurants, shops and culture venues fell by 80% on the same dates, with the exception of a small increase before Passover and another increase in the week beginning March 22. With regard to groceries and pharmacies, the drop in activity was only about 20% during the entire period.Since the end of Passover, there has been an increase in activity at workplaces, which rose from 60% less to 40% less than usual on May 1 (the latest figure in the file). Shopping and restaurants also saw an increase, as did public parks, where activity volume reached only 6% less than before the corona outbreak.It seems that in all of the five major European countries, the cessation of work began at a similar time, with the exception of Italy, which started a week earlier. In Germany, the maximum decline rate in activity was only 47% from normal. In Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Spain, the decline in work attendance was higher than in Israel, peaking at about 70% less than usual. Return to full activity in these four countries is also proceeding more slowly, and their activity is still lower than Israel on most parameters, including work, parks, retail, and transit use.
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