The pandemic has not stopped people moving about in the last two months as much as it did in the early days, Google data shows. 

When the coronavirus first hit in March, people stayed at home more and visited work less than in September and the first half of October – even though the more recent COVID-19 case numbers are so much higher.

A snapshot of the way the Maltese are responding to the pandemic is contained in a report compiled by Google analysing mobility in countries since the start of the pandemic.

Between September 4 and October 16, the period under review, visits to workplaces were down by around 21% when compared to behaviour before the pandemic hit. But in March, this drop was of nearly 50%.

And while, in March, Google data showed a roughly 20% increase in movement around homes, this increase dropped to a mere 8% in more recent weeks compared to pre-pandemic times.

The biggest shift in behaviour was in movement around retail and recreation places such as restaurants, cafes, shopping centres, museums, libraries and cinemas.

According to the Google data, a drop of 13% in such visits was registered in September and October. But, in March, the decline was as high as 76%.

This difference is to be expected since all non-essential shops were shuttered in March but have remained open throughout the so-called second wave.

Use of public transport has also increased when compared to earlier on in the year. While in March it had dropped by 57% from pre-coronavirus times, a drop of less than 10% was detected in the September-October period.

Visits to supermarkets and pharmacies actually went up slightly by 1%.

The report uses data which the tech giant collects through its applications such as Google Maps, specifically from users who have opted in to location history.

The data, which represents a sample of users, is aggregated and anonymised, and made public for a short while only.

The baseline – or pre-COVID-19 times – is the median value for the corresponding day of the week during the five-week period between January 3 and February 6.