How Well is DC Doing at Social Distancing?

• March 25th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

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As U.S. states, cities, and counties implement their own responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, one company is contemplating how well each is doing.

Unacast has published an interactive analysis of the extent to which different places are following the World Health Organization's and the Center for Disease Control's recommendations to enact social distancing.

So far, the country gets a grade of "B", with a nearly 39% drop in the average distance travelled. The District of Columbia, however, comes first both in the list of "states" and the list of "counties".

DC proper's A-grade reflects a 60% decrease in the average distance travelled by city residents. This data is as of March 21st, by which time the city was under a state of emergency, dine-in service had been shut down, and maximum capacities had been put in place for public gatherings. As of Tuesday night, the mayor ordered non-essential businesses to close.

The state of Maryland also has an A-grade, with a 43% drop in average distance travelled. Montgomery County ranks first in the state with a 52% drop, and Prince George's County also has an "A", with a 43% decrease.

Virginia, meanwhile, has been graded a "B", with an average 38% decrease in distance travelled. Alexandria ranks fourth-best at social distancing with 55% less distance travelled, while Arlington is not far behind, earning an "A" grade with a 52% drop.

The analysis culls data from local governments and cross-references this with population data and anonymous phone data from tens of millions of people. Any locale where residents travelled an average of at least 40% less received an A-grade.

Thumbnail photo by Ted Eytan. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/how-well-is-dc-doing-at-social-distancing/16637.