Carolinas among slowest states to change habits amid coronavirus pandemic, data shows
Health officials have called for social distancing to quell the spread of the coronavirus. But are residents in North Carolina and South Carolina really listening?
Not quite, according to data charted by the predictive intelligence company Descartes Labs.
By tracking the locations of mobile devices using GPS data, Descartes was able to calculate how far on average people in every state were traveling on any given day — whether it was to schools, grocery stores or work.
“Mobility in the U.S. appears to decline only as recently as March 14th, corresponding roughly with the start of widespread school closings and social distancing,” Descartes said in a blog post.
By March 20, people in states like Washington, New York, New Jersey and California were traveling up to 60% less than usual, according to The New York Times, which charted the change in travel distance for every state.
But changes in daily travel for residents of North Carolina and South Carolina weren’t nearly as significant, the data show.
During the first two weeks of March, most of North Carolina’s daily travel habits were up about 30%, according to the Times. It wasn’t until social distancing orders came into play during the week of March 20 that travel went down 50% to 60%.
While acknowledging how “imprecise and noisy” cellphone data can be, the Times said it still offers some insight as to “how the country is reacting to the crisis in near-real-time.”
Baruch Fischhoff, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told The Atlantic some people are less likely to curb their behavior in places where they believe the pandemic is not prevalent.
North Carolina had at least 339 reported cases of coronavirus as of Monday, The News and Observer reported.
Gov. Roy Cooper ordered all bars and restaurants to close last week except for take-out and delivery, and on Monday he banned gatherings of more than 50 people and ordered public schools to remain closed until May 15.
Some Mecklenburg County leaders have called for a “stay at home” order after health officials announced 97 new cases in the region, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Yet travel habits in some rural North Carolina counties like Bertie, Watauga and Scotland haven’t changed at all, the Times found. Since North Carolina announced its first reported case on March 3 in Wake County, the average distance traveled in those rural communities actually increased between 20% and 30%.
The same has held true for South Carolina, where there were at least 195 reported cases of coronavirus as of Monday.
Data showed travel habits were down 60% or less in only one South Carolina county — McCormick, where there have been zero reported cases as of March 22, The State reported.
Daily travel in Colleton, Hampton and Orangeburg counties — which have between one and three reported cases — increased, according to the Times.
Although rural communities are somewhat insulated from the spread of a contagious disease like COVID-19, Andy Pekosz told NPR that “it’s just a matter of time.”
Pekosz is a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. He said people in rural communities risk exposure to the coronavirus by having to drive into the city for medical treatments and jobs, NPR reported.
Once that happens, the spread of the virus becomes more difficult to contain.
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This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 2:16 PM.
