Movement to workplaces in India down 41%, shows Google report

Movement to workplaces declined significantly in India after the country imposed a nation-wide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, shows the latest Google COVID-19 Community Mobility report.

As compared to baseline, March 15, movement to workplaces was minus 41% by April 26, while mobility to places like restaurants, cafes, shopping centers, theme parks, museums, libraries, and movie theatre was minus 86 %, showed the report.

Mobility trends for places like national parks, public beaches, marinas, dog parks, plazas, and public gardens recorded minus 68 % during the period.

Similarly, movement to places like grocery markets, food warehouses, farmers markets, specialty food shops, drug stores, and pharmacies also declined considerably during the period, down 51%, the report showed.

Google said it calculated these insights based on data from users who have opted to turn on the Location History setting for their Google Account. So the data represents a sample of its users.

As with all samples, this may or may not represent the exact behaviour of a wider population, said the company.

A 21-day lockdown that started on March 25 was later extended to May 3 in India.

Google hopes these reports will provide insights into what has changed in response to work from home and other policies aimed at flattening the curve of this pandemic.