Covid 19 coronavirus: Google data shows most people obeying lockdown rules

Aviation Security officers supervise hotel guests exercise routines, Victoria Park. Photo / Michael Craig, NZ Herald

By RNZ

Global data collected by Google shows most New Zealanders are continuing to abide by level 4 restrictions, despite an increase in lockdown breaches and convictions.

Google is releasing the anonymised data, collected through location history on people's mobile phones, every week during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The latest update, containing data through to April 11, showed there had been no significant change in the average number of trips New Zealanders were making to supermarkets, parks, workplaces and other regular haunts.

For the week starting April 5, trips to the parks and beaches were down 72 per cent on normal, on average; trips to supermarkets and pharmacies were down 42 per cent; trips to workplaces were down by 71 per cent; and trips to retail and recreation facilities such as libraries and malls were down 89 per cent.

A freeze frame from drone footage showing the north-western motorway in Auckland. Photo / RNZ

That represented no change from the previous two weeks of lockdown, although the numbers did briefly sink even lower during the first three days of the restrictions.

Day-by-day figures vary: the day before Good Friday recorded a spike in people visiting grocery stores and pharmacies before they closed for the public holiday.

The Google figures followed data released by the Transport Agency yesterday showing continued massive drops in traffic volumes and public transport use last week.

Photo / Google, RNZ

The Google mobility data, which charts movements for 131 countries, shows New Zealanders are making fewer visits to all locations than Australians, who - while still in a strict lockdown - remain able to buy takeaways and visit some stores.

While visits to supermarkets and pharmacies were down across the Tasman, fluctuating between 20 to 60 per cent fewer trips than normal, the day before Good Friday actually recorded a spike 15 per cent higher than normal, non-lockdown conditions.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website