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Maine CDC says data shows Mainers are staying home, social distancing

Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah says it's too soon tell how much the efforts will help.

The Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC) says data from a variety of sources indicates that Mainers around the state have begun to heed warnings about the coronavirus pandemic, and are staying home.

Data from the Maine Department of Transportation, Verizon, and Google seems to indicate that since calls for social distancing began, there are fewer cars on the roads and more people are using their cell phones from home, rather than while on the road.

The changes are greatest in Cumberland and York Counties, where COVID-19 has had the strongest grip to date. There are 222 confirmed cases in Cumberland County, and 89 in York County as of Friday. 

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Credit: NCM

According to the Maine Department of Transportation, traffic volume recorded at points throughout the state shows a reduction of 20 percent between Wednesday and Thursday, when Gov. Janet Mills' Executive Order went into effect.

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"In the past several weeks, there have been reductions of up to 50 percent in traffic volume, most notably in Cumberland County," Maine CDC Director Dr. Nariv Shah said Friday. "And on top of that, since Tuesday of this week, an even larger…decrease in the traffic reduction that has occurred on the order of about 17 percent."

Similarly, Verizon statistics showing the location of cell phone use from March 13 to April 3 show residents are staying closer to home.

Credit: Cuebig

Data compiled by Google using the Google Maps app shows a dramatic reduction in "mobility" between Feb. 16 and March 29.

In both cases, mobility decreased far more in Cumberland and York counties, with less change in more rural counties such as Aroostook and Washington. Those counties saw their first confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

Credit: Google
Credit: Google

"The data that we’ve seen suggests that social distancing in and of itself is occurring, and that’s a positive sign," Shah said Friday. "But what we don’t yet know as a scientific community is to what extent social distancing will impact the shape of that curve today, tomorrow versus next week or the week after."

At NEWS CENTER Maine, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the illness. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: /coronavirus

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