Before revision:  We identifyand quantify different degrees of social distancing and characterise their imprint on the first wave of the pandemic. The analysis allows us to classify countries according to their level of mobility. Furthermore we identify a negative change in the infection rate occurring two to five weeks after the onset of mobility reduction for the European countries studied here .
After revision:  We identifyand quantify different degrees of social distancing and characterise their imprint on the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and in the United States. We identify the period of enacted social distancing via Google and Apple data, independently from the political decisions. Interestingly we observe a general decrease in the infection rate occurring two to five weeks after the onset of mobility reduction for the European countries studied here .