Social distancing has emerged as the primary mitigation strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. However, large-scale evaluation of the public's response to social distancing campaigns has been lacking. We used anonymized and aggregated mobility data from Google Location History usersto estimate the impact of social distancing recommendations on bulk mobility among users who have opted into this service. We found that state-of-emergency declarations resulted in approximately a 10 \% reduction in time spent away from places of residence. Implementation of one or more social distancing policies resulted in an additional 25 \% reduction in mobility the following week . Subsequent shelter-in-place mandates provided an additional 29 \% reduction. Our findings provide evidence that state-wide mandates are effective in promoting social distancing within this study group .
Social distancing remains the primary mitigation strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. However, the impacts of specific state-level policies on mobility and subsequent COVID-19 case trajectories have not been completely quantified. Using anonymized and aggregated mobility data from opted-in Google users, we found that state-level emergency declarations resulted in a 9.9 \% reduction in time spent away from places of residence. Implementation of one or more social distancing policies resulted in an additional 24.5 \% reduction in mobility the following week , and subsequent shelter-in-place mandates yielded an additional 29.0 \% reduction. Decreases in mobility were associated with substantial reductions in case growth 2 to 4 weeks later. For example, a 10\% reduction in mobility was associated with a 17.5\% reduction in case growth 2 weeks later. Given the continued reliance on social distancing policies to limit the spread of COVID-19, these results may be helpful to public health officials trying to balance infection control with the economic and social consequences of these policies .
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Our findings provide evidence that state-wide mandates are effective in promoting social distancing within this study group
Decreases in mobility were associated with substantial reductions in case growth 2 to 4 weeks later. For example, a 10\% reduction in mobility was associated with a 17.5\% reduction in case growth 2 weeks later. Given the continued reliance on social distancing policies to limit the spread of COVID-19, these results may be helpful to public health officials trying to balance infection control with the economic and social consequences of these policies