How’s Missouri doing with social distancing? Not so great, according to tracking data
As the coronavirus continues to spread, how well is Missouri social distancing in an effort to flatten the curve?
The answer: Not so well, according to a study from Unacast.
The human mobility company uses anonymous data from cellphones to determine the average distance people are traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the average distance they traveled prior to the outbreak. The data is entered into a color-coded map that is updated daily.
Missouri earned a D ranking. The United States as a whole garnered a C, based on the latest data Monday morning.
From February 24 to March 12, Missouri saw little change in how often people were traveling in the state, data show. On some occasions, movement actually increased with March 12 seeing a 7% jump in average distance traveled.
As cases began popping up in mid-March, Missouri saw a slight drop in travel — the state saw a 12% decrease in travel on March 12 — before climbing back to average on March 15.
At that point, the state had six confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to Unacast.
Missouri saw its largest decrease in travel — 31% less than usual — on March 22 when the state confirmed 22 new cases, according to the data. Travel increased, again, to only 16% lower than average on March 23. That day, Missouri saw 87 new cases.
Of course, some counties are doing better than others. Worth, Mercer, St. Louis, Ray and Platte counties rank the best in the state, with Worth and Mercer both seeing A ratings for their March 24 travel.
Mississippi, New Madrid, Holt, Pemiscot and Cooper counties ranked worst, all scoring Fs.
Jackson County, home to Kansas City where Mayor Quinton Lucas enacted a stay-home order that took effect on March 24, has a C ranking.
Jasper County, home to Joplin, has an F ranking and Greene County, home to Springfield, scored a D, data from March 24 show.
As of Sunday, Missouri has confirmed 903 cases of coronavirus and 12 deaths, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services.
The state has tested more than 14,000 people.
Clarification: This article has been updated to reflect how states and counties were scored based on travel on specific dates.
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 8:39 AM with the headline "How’s Missouri doing with social distancing? Not so great, according to tracking data."