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Tags: social distancing | cellphone data | lockdown | quarantine

Cellphone Data Shows Americans Starting to Gather at Pre-virus Levels

groups of people sit in the sand on the beach under colorful umbrellas
People visit Clearwater Beach on May 20, 2020 in Clearwater, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

By    |   Thursday, 11 June 2020 11:49 AM EDT

Some Americans are getting tired of staying away from other people, according to a study that tracked cellphone location data.

NBC News reports that people in more than 450 counties have started gathering in larger groups, according to research conducted by analytics and marketing company Cuebiq.

The firm used cellphone location information to track where more than 15 million people were going from March 1-June 2. The study looked at where people are spending a significant amount of time and whether two devices came within 50 feet of each other within a five-minute period outside of a person’s home.

The data indicates that since late March, people have kept their distance. But as lockdowns have started coming to an end, some areas have seen a huge spike in people starting to cluster together.

Overall, data shows contact levels across the country are still low, but some places are seeing people gathering at levels that took place before the coronavirus outbreak.

In May, data from Apple Maps indicated that Americans in some cities began driving and walking again, NBC News reports. 

Cuebiq’s report shows that while people are out and about, they are getting close to other people. People are still keeping their distance in large cities including Los Angeles, Manhattan and Miami, according to the data.

Areas that have seen spikes in crowds include Camden County in Missouri, where people packed into a pool party at the Lake of Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend. Beach cities in Baldwin County, Alabama, and in Bay County, Florida, have seen contact rates rise drastically since the counties reopened in early May, according to Cuebiq's report. 

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Some Americans are getting tired of staying away from other people, according to a study that tracked cellphone location data. NBC News reports that people in more than 450 counties have started gathering in larger groups, according to research conducted by analytics...
social distancing, cellphone data, lockdown, quarantine
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2020-49-11
Thursday, 11 June 2020 11:49 AM
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