Public policies put in place to combat COVID-19 mean students are no longer going to school, non-life-sustaining businesses are shuttered, restaurant dining is prohibited, and all sport activities and public events have been cancelled. Governor Tom Wolf has issued a stay-at-home order.
The result?
People in Beaver County are moving around about 35 percent less each day than before the pandemic hit locally, according to a new analysis by location data firm Unacast.
The data scientists give Beaver County an overall “B” rating for social distancing in comparison to other counties in the nation.
To generate its reports, Unacast gathers anonymized location tracking data from some of the most popular apps on your smartphone. It uses this data from tens of millions of anonymous mobile phones to analyze how people in locations are interacting with others each day. The company combines that data with information collected by Johns Hopkins University about the spread of the virus.
Unacast found Beaver Countians have been traveling an average distance of 32-42 percent less in recent days when compared to the amount they moved around before the virus hit.
Butler County also has a “B” rating, with Lawrence and Washington counties both having a “C” rating at a 20-30 percent decrease in daily movement.
Allegheny County tops the local ratings with an “A,” averaging more than a 40 percent decrease among people there.
A recent study conducted by Columbia University researchers determined strict adherence to social distancing could mean the difference between 2,000 or 140,000 Beaver Countians contracting the virus by August.
See Also:
– Doctor Says COVID-19 Spreading In Beaver County Due To Construction And Manufacturing Workers
– Beaver County Has 44 Coronavirus Cases – It Could Reach 140,000 Without Proper Interventions
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