22/03/2023

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Americans are on the move again, indicating that adherence to stay-at-home orders may be wearing off as the pandemic drags on.
Over a three-week period ending late last month, the share of Americans staying close to home has steadily shrunk, according to an analysis of data provided by a New York City data analysis firm that aggregates anonymous cellphone location information from 15 million people.
The number of Americans travelling between one and 10 miles per week grew from 29 per cent to 31 per cent.  AP
The data shows that New Jersey and Pennsylvania have some the largest shares of people staying indoors. But as with the rest of the US, fewer area residents are staying home as the weather gets warmer, the outbreak lasts longer, and the number of new cases flattens.
The improved weather and the sheer duration of the stay-at-home orders could explain why more people are travelling farther, said Vinod Venkatraman, director of Temple University’s Center for Applied Research in Decision Making.
Residents may be suffering from “behavioral fatigue,” in which they lose motivation to maintain new habits, he said. And the trend could snowball.
“You don’t want to be the first one to do it because in some ways, you’re worried about what others are going to think,” he added. “But when other people are doing it, you just feel like, ‘Ok, I’m still doing my best by social distancing or whatever, but I want to do something different.'”
The data analysed looked at mobility across the nation from March 2 through April 27. Across the county, it showed, the percentage of American travelling no more than a mile daily fell from 53.1 per cent to 49.6 per cent over the three-week period.
At the same time, the percentage travelling between one and 10 miles per week grew from 29 per cent to 31 per cent. There was a similar, if even slightly greater, bump in those travelling more than 10 miles.