Google data now shows fewer people in Nepal are staying indoors amid the Coronavirus pandemic

19 May 2020 - codefornepal

The Government of Nepal has reported over 350 COVID-19 positive cases and two deaths due to this novel coronavirus as of this writing. To prevent the mass spread, Nepal has been under a national lockdown since March 24.

In late March, Google released its COVID-19 Community Mobility Report to help users “understand responses to social distancing guidance related to COVID-19.” Code for Nepal compared Google’s reports from March 29 and May 9 and found fewer people in Nepal are staying indoors amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Mobility trends for places categorized as “retail and recreation” or places such as restaurants, shopping centers, or movie theatres on March 29 decreased sharply (-78%) compared to February 16. Mobility trends for places categorized as “grocery and pharmacy” or places such as grocery markets, food shops, or pharmacies decreased by 69%. 

Almost six weeks later, on May 9, mobility trends to “retail and recreation” have increased by 11% compared to the March 29 trend. And mobility trends for “grocery and pharmacy” have increased by 17%. Similarly, mobility trends for workplaces increased by 37%. 

For details, check out this chart. 

It is important to note that this data is not representative of all Nepalis. According to Google, “insights in these reports are created with aggregated, anonymized sets of data from users who have turned on Google’s Location History setting.”

We welcome your thoughts and comments below.