Mobility Response to COVID-19-related Restrictions in New York City

ABSTRACT

The first case of the 2019 novel coronavirus was detected in the United States in January 2020, and since then, efforts to contain the virus, such as stay-at-home policies, have greatly restricted human mobility. While stay-at-home policies and concern over the virus contributed to an increase in time spent at home, little is known as to how a change in home dwell time varied by population. The work presented in this paper seeks to understand the relationships between levels of mobility and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of communities within New York City from February to April 2020. By analyzing the factors that contributed to changes in home dwell time, this work aims to support policymakers and inform future strategies for infection mitigation. Findings from this research reinforce the need for physical distancing policies that acknowledge the existence of socioeconomic and demographic diversity between not only geographic regions in the U.S. but also within a single city. © 2021 ACM.