MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The analytics and location data firm, Unacast, launched an interactive map that shows how well counties and states are practicing social distancing through letter grades.
Unacast launched its Social Distancing Scoreboard this week to help public health experts, policy makers, academics, community leaders and businesses in retail and real estate access data on social distancing trends to reference when making decisions related to the coronavirus.
Unacast says another goal of launching the map is to help raise awareness of and reinforce the importance of social distancing in relation to slowing the spread of the virus.
The firm uses geospatial human mobility insights to show the change in non-essential visits made and average mobility (based on distance traveled) throughout the area before and during the outbreak. Unacast compares this data to other parts of the country and considers the amount of positive COVID-19 cases that area has when determining a grade.
Unacast gave Horry County a D+ after analyzing the area’s data. As of April 9, the data show the county saw a 25 to 40 percent reduction in average mobility (based on distance traveled) and a 65 to 70 percent reduction in non-essential visits.
Florence County received the lowest grade- an F. According to the most recent data, the county had a less than 25 percent reduction in average mobility (based on distance traveled) and a 55 to 60 percent reduction in non-essential visits.
“The public response this week has been remarkable and validates our belief that presenting aggregated information on social distancing behavior will help organizations and businesses better understand public behavior in a post COVID-19 world, and is a powerful tool to help mitigate the pandemic spread. Our goal in developing this and our COVID-19 Toolkit is to empower organizations to unearth reliable and valuable information to guide critical decision making and planning in relation to COVID-19 containment,” said Thomas Walle, CEO and Co-founder at Unacast.
To view the Social Distancing Scoreboard and interactive map, click here.
