Yesterday we shared about the importance of physical distancing (many are calling social distancing which is probably not the best term) in helping us get COVID-19 under control and what we’ll need in place to go back to more normal social activity.
Turns out, our various wearable devices and cell phones are collecting a lot of movement data that can be used to understand how well we’re doing at staying at home. If you want to see how your state and county are doing, check out the Social Distancing Dashboard from Unacast.
Also, Evidation Health has been sharing some related data in what they call their COVID-19 Pulse. Here are a few highlights they shared from the data they collected from over 140,000 individuals:
1/ NEW: Social distancing and #StayHome have created unprecedented change in physical activity, as measured through wearables devices. Activity in the week following the declaration of a federal emergency is down more than 26%—every single state and D.C. is negative. pic.twitter.com/DQDsroewVy
— Evidation Health (@evidation) March 23, 2020
2/ States have varied widely in terms of their responsiveness. Relative to 3/1, only 1 state had seen a decline of >30% in physical activity by 3/16—that number jumped to 29 by 3/20. Still though, 11 states had not yet reached a 20% decline by 3/20. pic.twitter.com/LeryXlNmXt
— Evidation Health (@evidation) March 23, 2020
3/ Local guidance and mandates, from closing of non-essential businesses to prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people make a difference. Lagging localities, such as New Orleans and Miami, have experienced less decline in physical activity since 3/13. New York is down by 50%! pic.twitter.com/63OdG4ccZI
— Evidation Health (@evidation) March 23, 2020
We do have to be a little careful with this data. Movement in itself is not an issue in the crisis. In fact, going outside for a walk or a run by yourself or working out in your house are all good options that still are following social distancing requirements. However, this data does give us some idea of how we’re doing at social distancing in various regions. It does beg the question of what health impact lack of movement will have on the population. Assuming a lot of movement was in cars, we’ll be fine. However, my guess is many workouts are falling to the side as well.
