We are asked and sometimes told we must be practicing social distancing to stop the amount of spread of COVID-19.

What exactly is “social distancing”? According to a medical dictionary, it is:

Protecting the public health by separating communities so that people who are stricken by a contagious illness cannot pass it on to others who are not. It includes, e.g., having children stay out of school when they are ill; closing workplaces; postponing meetings; and avoiding large social or religious gatherings or sporting events. It is designed to stop the spread of epidemics or pandemics but is not as strict a limitation on social interaction as quarantine.

A company by the name of Unicast created a Social Distancing Scoreboard.  Unicast used phone GPS data to track people’s “mobility” during the “Shelter in Place” orders from Governors of a majority of the United States.

Yes, you read that correctly they actually had access to our GPS data, did that slip by you as you read that?

How did Michigan do? Very well.

According to their report as of March 21st and reported by MLive, travel within Michigan had declined by approximately 45%. That declined earned Michigan an “A”, something we all should be proud of.

The counties in Michigan which received the highest scores were Luce, Livingston, Oakland, Kalamazoo, and Ingham. 

Great job Kalamazoo!

For the time being, let us all take the advice of the medical professionals and practice social distancing as much as possible.

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