Google has been tracking Aussies during the coronavirus shutdown. These 3 graphs show where we've been going.
Image: Home Alone/ IMDb
Aussies are actually staying home during the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from Google.
Google has released its COVID-19 Mobility Report which found a 13% rise in people staying home in Australia.
The report also showed a drop in Aussies going to places such as restaurants and public transport stations.
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Google has revealed where Aussies have been going during the coronavirus pandemic.
The tech giant released a COVID-19 Community Mobility Report to help public health officials in countries such as Australia, the US, Germany and the UK see how people have been responding to social distancing rules.
The report covered a range of destinations including grocery stores and pharmacies, parks and public transport stations between February and March 2020.
In Australia, travel to public transport stations experienced the biggest decline, at 58%.
Following the federal government's order to shut venues including pubs, clubs, cinemas and restaurants – save for takeaway and delivery options – there has been a clear drop in Aussies heading to those destinations. Google found a 45% decline in travel to retail and recreation venues such as restaurants, libraries and cinemas.
Also in decline was travel to parks (35%) as well as people heading to work (33%). And when it came to grocery stores and pharmacies, that dropped by 19%.
Interestingly though, there was a 13% rise in people heading to their homes, a sign that at least some Aussies are taking heed of social distancing advice.
Google also broke down travel figures by state
The report comes from aggregated and anonymised sets of data from users who have their location history settings on – a setting which is off by default. You can opt to turn your location history off from your Google account.
"No personally identifiable information, like an individual’s location, contacts or movement, is made available at any point," Google said in its report.
The report shows how visits to different places has changed, using the same kind of data used to show popular times for places on Google Maps.
According to the report, Victoria had the highest percentage of people staying home (16%), followed by New South Wales (14%). In Tasmania and Western Australia it was 13%, 12% in the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia and 11% in the Australian Capital Territory.
Canberrans can perhaps be forgiven though. Google says they're mostly just going to the park.
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