Shoppers slowly return but visits still 55% down
People are venturing out more as lockdown restrictions loosen, but movement is still down on pre-pandemic levels.
As lockdown has eased, with shops reopening and more freedom to meet up with other households, Google location data has shown more visits to places in Bath and North East Somerset that were previously deserted.
The changes to rules allowing pubs, restaurants and hair salons to reopen on July 4 appears to have boosted that trend further.
Visits to retail and recreation venues were at 63 per cent below levels seen in January and February on July 4.
That was up from 74 per cent below normal the week before on June 27. By July 11, that had risen further to 55 per cent below January and February levels.
Visits to retail and recreation sites dropped to their lowest levels in April at the height of the lockdown – on Saturday, April 18, they were 92 per cent below normal in
Bath and North East Somerset.
This had then slowly started to pick up in May and June – rising to 86 per cent below normal on May 16, and 78 per cent below normal on June 13.
Places that have been open throughout lockdown have also seen rising visits – trips to food stores and pharmacies have risen from 48 per cent below January and February levels on April 18, to 23 per cent below on June 27, and to 17 per cent below on July 11.
Visits to parks have been popular but unsurprisingly, are much more weather-dependent. While in Bath and North East Somerset trips to parks were down below the January and February baseline in April (at 68 per cent below on April 18), they can now reach above pre-pandemic levels on good days.
While cooler, wetter weather on July 4 meant visits were 22 per cent below those seen earlier in the year, better weather on July 11 meant they were 40 per cent above levels earlier in the year.
While people in Bath and North East Somerset are venturing out more than previously, they’re still staying home more compared to the start of 2020.
The amount of time spent at home was five per cent higher than in January and February on July 11.
The analysis is based on anonymised data from people who have opted in to Location History for their Google account, so it only represents a sample of people.
The figures compare the most recent data, from two to three days ago, to the average for the corresponding day of the week during the five-week period January 3 to February 6, 2020.
Across the UK, visits to retail and recreation locations have been increasing in recent weeks.
On July 4, they were at 51 per cent down compared to the baseline – that was up from 59 per cent below the week before, and 81 per cent below back on April 18.
On July 11, they’d risen further to 47 per cent below baseline.
Footfall at food shops was at 12 per cent below January and February on July 11, while trips to parks were 69 per cent above that baseline, with people spending six per cent more time than usual at home.