San Diegans may not be social distancing as well as other counties in the state even though residents are curbing unnecessary travel.
Local officials on Friday highlighted separate data sets that as of that afternoon ranked the region’s social distancing efforts with a grade of C, despite a decrease in movement to retail locations, parks and other destinations.
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher pointed to the social distancing grade from Unacast, which scores counties across the nation, and mobility data from Google to show San Diegans how their efforts are making an impact but where they can improve.
“It’s a way for us to really show the progress we’re making as a community and to hopefully inspire continued commitment and continued action,” Fletcher said.
The data from Google shows San Diegans have from baseline figures reduced trips to nonessential retail and recreation locations, such as restaurants, shopping centers and movie theaters, by 54% and even cut travel to essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies by 28%.
Visits to parks, transit stations and workplaces were down 70%, 69% and 43%, respectively, while for residences it was up 16%.
The figures are date to April 5 and baseline data is based on mobility during early January and February.
According to data from Unacast, San Diego conducted social distancing better than or tied with 30 California counties but performed worse than 26 others in the state. For one other county data was not available.
The scores are based on mobile device data of distance traveled, visits to non-essential establishments and the probability that two devices were in the same place at the same time, which suggests human encounters.
The website looked at data from mid-February to early March to establish a baseline and the grades are based on the percent decrease from that measure. A “C” represents a 74-82% reduction, a “B” is 82-94% and an A is anything higher.
Most Southern California counties also earned a C, including Los Angeles.
Fletcher highlighted the comparison to the region during the county's daily coronavirus response update to tap into San Diego’s competitive side.
“I know in San Diego we live in a mantra of ‘beat LA’ and we’ve got a little bit of work to do here over the next week to get our score higher than Los Angeles,” he said.
The grades vary slightly from what Fletcher announced during the press conference, likely due to the earlier time the county accessed the data on the Unacast website.
Other Southern California counties bested San Diego. Santa Barbara earned a B-, while Imperial and San Bernardino counties received a C+.
Mono and Mariposa counties ranked the best in the state with an A-. Nationwide the country earned a C+ while California, overall, received a B-.
