Google data collected during the COVID pandemic has shown that Griffith residents are largely still out and about during the pandemic, compared to a drastic drop across NSW.
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The data shows a dramatic 23 per cent increase in workplace attendance during the pandemic, as well as a 12 per cent increase to supermarkets and pharmacy visits. Visits to residences were far less dramatic, but increased by four per cent.
This comes as numbers continue to increase in Sydney, hitting 177 cases on July 28. Regional restrictions are also set to continue, along with the greater Sydney lockdown extending for another four weeks.
Partly due to Sydney's lockdown, wider NSW saw an impressive drop in people leaving their homes for nearly any reason, with a decrease of public transport use of 71 per cent.
Retail and recreation dropped by a cool 40 per cent.
The study collected data on movement and length of visits between May 31 and July 12, and compares them to a baseline. The baseline is the average value collected just before the pandemic hit in full force, collected across five weeks from January to February 2020.
While the numbers show an increase in both number and length of visits to supermarkets, staff aren't as sure. Cashiers at both Coles and Woolworths said they hadn't noticed any notable changes besides the addition of masks and check-ins.
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A cashier at BWS however, said he'd noticed an increase in visitors to the nearby Woolworths.
"I haven't noticed any extra people beyond the usual busy days for us, for us it's pretty normal," he said.
"Woolies has been getting more people though, it seems. How much, I couldn't say."
The data was collected from Google maps, as well as the Location History setting on google devices, which they are quick to remind is turned off by default. The data was anonymised and aggregated before being published.
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