Data from 131 countries show how visits to shops, parks and workplaces declined in March, when several governments ordered restrictive measures against the spread of the coronavirus, Google released.
Google Analytics is based on the location data of billions of users and is the largest publicly available database designed to help authorities see whether citizens are complying with home-based guidelines.
Specifically, in the context of the analysis, graphs are presented that compare the traffic that existed in metro, trains, bus stations and grocery stores on specific days from 16 to 29 March with the respective days in the period from January 3 to February 6.
In Greece, as shown in the attached document, visits to shops and recreation areas decreased by 80%, to grocery stores and pharmacies by 41% and to open spaces by 55%.
In Italy, visits to shops and places of entertainment such as restaurants and theaters plunged by 94% while attendance at work decreased by 63%.
Indicative of the severity of the crisis in this country are the visits to grocery stores and pharmacies that decreased by 85% and the visits to parks by 90%.
In the United States, and in particular in California, which was the first to take restrictive measures, visits to shops and places of recreation were "cut" in half. In Arkansas, on the other hand, one of the few states with relatively more flexible restraint, those visits fell by 29%, the lowest in the United States.
The data also highlight some of the challenges faced by authorities in restricting people. Shop visits increased in Singapore, the United Kingdom and elsewhere as travel restrictions took effect. Visits to parks increased in March in some San Francisco counties.
In contrast, in Japan, where authorities have been relatively lenient with social distances but where calls are increasing daily to declare the country a state of emergency, visits to entertainment venues and shops have fallen by 26%. Workplace visits fell by just 9%.
The coronavirus has infected more than a million people and left 52.000 dead.
Google has collected data from users who have enabled Location Services on their devices. The company said it had adopted technical measures to ensure that none of the users could be identified.
You can see detailed data for all countries clicking here
