Tech data: Residents are moving around more
As the economy begins to reopen, data shows Humboldt County residents are staying at home less than they were a month ago.
Many people are continuing to stay home, aren’t going to their workplaces and aren’t using transit stations, according to tech giant Google’s COVID-19 mobility reports. However, at the beginning of April the decline in people frequenting grocery stores and pharmacies was down 14% compared to February, while it was down just 7% during the first week of May.
Most notably, there had been an 18% decrease in people going to parks during the first week of
April while it was up 21% during the first week of May, according to Google data.
Facebook data also showed a decline in the number of people staying home, which reached a high of 40% on April 5 before dropping to 28% on May 10.
Humboldt County residents are among the top 10 California counties that have reduced mobility the least.
Toward the end of March and beginning of April, Humboldt County had reduced mobility by almost 40%, hovering between a 36 and 38% reduction, according to Facebook data. That dropped to an 8% reduction in mobility May 10.
The data doesn’t provide a complete picture of what’s happening
in the county because it’s limited to the people who use Google or Facebook and have their location services turned on.
Tech company Unacast, which helps companies contextualize location data, developed a mobility scorecard grading each county’s social distancing practices.
Unacast gave Humboldt County a C based on three factors: less than 25% reduction in mobility based on distance traveled (F), a 60 to 65% reduction in nonessential visits (C), and a 94% reduction in social encounters compared to the rest of the country.