Company develops ‘social distancing scoreboard’

The metric used is changes in distance travelled post-coronavirus versus pre-coronavirus

According to the World Health Organization, CDC, and all local health departments, social distancing is the most effective weapon we all have against COVID-19.

The disease is primarily spread by droplets from other humans when they speak or cough, so avoiding other humans and staying at home is your best bet to stay safe.

A company called Unacast now has a social distancing scoreboard for every state and county in the U.S.

Using GPS data from smartphone apps that it partners with, Unacast has developed a formula to calculate reductions in distance travelled…otherwise known as average mobility and reductions in visits to non-essential places.

Generally speaking, looking at data starting on February 24 through 11:30 a.m. April 6, most places have been able to reduce average mobility by 40-55%, and visits to non-essential places in the 60-65% range.  Among the 50 states, Connecticut is in the middle of the pack, with a grade of a C.

As for Connecticut counties, New London County is close to the top with a B-.  It has had very consistent decreases in both average mobility and reduction in non-essential visits.

Tolland County also graded out with a B-.  It has probably the lowest, most consistent drop in non-essential visits, but did not do as well as New London County in reducing average mobility.

Hartford County has reduced its average mobility and non-essential visits, but not as well as New London and Tolland counties.  So it got a social distancing score of a C.

Even worse was Middlesex County, it got a grade of a D in part because Unacast’s data did not indicate as substantial a drop in non-essential visits.