Using Public-Private Data to Understand Compliance with Mobility Restrictions in Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT

This research investigates the potential for using call detail records (CDRs) data to determine public compliance to two government mandated confinement measures in Sierra Leone a three day lockdown and fourteen day inter district travel restriction during the first wave of the COVID19 pandemic in April 2020. We use a distance-based mobility indicator, the average distance travelled per district per day to determine compliance to government mandates. The measure is used to proxy the change in mobility compared to a baseline period for both inter- and intra-district trips in Sierra Leone. Our results show significant compliance across all districts in Sierra Leone. We also show that the intensity of compliance is influenced by poverty and population. Our work demonstrates how using CDR-based mobility analysis was carried out in Sierra Leone during the COVID19 crisis to aid policy makers in understanding the effectiveness of their COVID19 mitigation measures. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.