08-06-2020, 08:50 PM
Lex, for what it is worth the same methodology was used to show that Trump’s rally in Tulsa also didn’t have a significant effect on infections, so there isn’t a partisan lens to it.
Mobility data is measured indirectly, usually using anonymized phone data. You are correct that it can’t distinguish between people driving 100 miles out to the middle of nowhere and not seeing another soul, and people driving 100 miles to a busy downtown. But the mobility data has correlated pretty well to lockdowns and subsequent decreases in transmission, and averaged over many people can probably give you a decent idea of the extent to which people are “out and about”.
BC
Mobility data is measured indirectly, usually using anonymized phone data. You are correct that it can’t distinguish between people driving 100 miles out to the middle of nowhere and not seeing another soul, and people driving 100 miles to a busy downtown. But the mobility data has correlated pretty well to lockdowns and subsequent decreases in transmission, and averaged over many people can probably give you a decent idea of the extent to which people are “out and about”.
BC