Google data shows Essex mobility during Covid lockdowns

The tech giant is using location data gathered from phones to help public health officials understand how people’s movements have changed during the global pandemic.

The reports use data from people who have opted in to storing their location history with Google to help illustrate the degree to which people are adhering to government instructions.

The data tracks people's movement in the home, retail and recreation establishments, grocery stores, pharmacies, public transport hubs, parks and green spaces.

A quiet Colchester High Street during lockdown

By comparing the data to before the pandemic hit in February 2020, you can see an increase or decrease in time spent at those locations.

What is compliance like in Essex? 

Looking at Essex's data for the first Saturday of the latest lockdown shows a big difference compared with data from the lockdown in March.

The COVID-19 Community Mobility Report dated March 29 showed a decline of 79 per cent in people in Essex heading to public transportation such as bus and train stations.

It also showed that retail recreation – which comprises restaurants, shopping centres, theme parks, museums, libraries and movie theatres – saw an 89 per cent decline in visits.

Public parks saw a decline of 57 per cent, followed by workplaces at 57 per cent and grocery stores and pharmacies at 39 per cent.

The data shows a decrease in movement in the majority of locations during all three lockdowns in March 2020, November 2020 and January 2021.

Data shows how residents of Essex are complying with lockdown this time around (Image: Steve Brading)

This time around however, 71 per cent less people are using public transport.

There has been a 57 per cent drop in retail and recreation use this time around, 50 per cent in travel to work and 21 per cent drop in the use of supermarkets and pharmacies.

The usage of parks has gone up this time around - up 16 per cent to be exact. 

More people also appear to be spending time at home, with the percentage up 21 per cent. 

Read more >>> Google mobility data reveals how well Essex is complying with lockdown rules

This interactive chart shows how the number of visitors (or time spent) in categorized places has changed

Data comes from Google account users who opted-in to its location history service.

Statistics are based on a baseline value for that day of the week.

The baseline used is the average for the corresponding day of the week during the five-week period January 3 to February 6, 2020.

We do not have the data for the third national lockdown in November. 

The data is also broken down into each area.

How Colchester complied with lockdown in January

To view the full data set, visit www.google.com/covid19/mobility.

What are the current lockdown rules?

People in England must stay at home and only go out for "a reasonable excuse".

You are not allowed to leave home to meet people socially if you don't live together, or have a support bubble with them.

A new £800 fine for attending house parties of more than 15 people has been announced. It will double for each additional offence - up to £6,400.

Organisers will be fined £10,000.

What's a "reasonable excuse" for leaving home?

• Shopping for essentials such as food and medicine
• Meeting your support or childcare bubble
• Children can move between separated parents
• Working where it is "unreasonable" to work from home, for example nannies, cleaners and tradespeople
• Education, training, childcare, medical appointments and emergencies
• Religious worship
• Moving house
• Exercise

You can exercise with one person from another household in an open public space. You should stay two metres apart from each other.

If you do leave home for one of these reasons, you should stay local - unless it is necessary to go further, for example to go to work.

Travel - internationally or around the UK - is only allowed if it is essential.

If you are clinically extremely vulnerable you should only go out for medical appointments, exercise or if it is essential. You should not attend work.

When will lockdown end?

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government is still a “long, long, long way off” being able to lift lockdown restrictions in England.

Three quarter of people over the age of 80 have now been vaccinated with Mr Hancock saying the vaccination programme was making “brilliant progress”.

Despite saying there was clear evidence to suggest lockdown restrictions were working the health secretary said that case numbers were still “incredibly high”.

“There is early evidence that the lockdown is starting to bring cases down but we are a long, long, long way from being low enough because the case rate was incredibly high,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.

“You can see the pressure on the NHS – you can see it every day.”