Google report shows extent of reduced activity in Westmeath

A new report published by tech giant Google has put into numbers the drastic reduction in everyday activities in Westmeath and across Ireland as a result of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.

The report is aimed at allowing government and members of the public to gauge the impact of social distancing measures and restricted movements which have been in place in various forms since March 12.

Google’s assessment of 131 countries, broken down into regional (or in the case of Ireland, county) level, tracked “movement trends over time by geography” by harvesting location history from Google mobile apps (from those Google users who have opted in to having such data collected).

Trends display a percentage point increase or decrease under six headings:

– Retail and recreation (restaurants, cafés, pubs, shopping centres, amusement parks, museums, libraries and cinemas)

– Grocery and pharmacy (supermarkets, food warehouses, markets, food shops, off licences, pharmacies

– Parks, beaches and plazas (including marinas and public gardens)

– Bus, subway and train stations

– Office buildings and workplaces

– Residential

The presentation shows just how dramatically life has changed in Westmeath between February 16 and March 29.

In this county, visits to retail and recreation outlets have declined by 85% in six weeks, in line with the national average. Usage of transit stations (such as Mullingar Railway Station) has declined by 75%, while workplace activity is down 52% compared to the February 16 baseline.

Google has not yet assembled sufficient data for use of parks in Westmeath, but their best indications so far suggest a fall of at least 45%. Similarly, there is not enough data to calculate mobility trends for places of residence, but preliminary figures suggest an increase of 24% – an indication that people are staying at home in larger numbers.

Despite restrictions in movement still permitting people to visit shops and pharmacies for provisions, Google has nevertheless detected a 48% drop in mobility trends at these places since February 16.

Given that location the data is only harvested from people who have opted in to allowing Google to save their location history, the report ended with the proviso: “As with all samples, this may or may not represent the exact behaviour of a wider population.”

Weblink: www.google.com/covid19/mobility