SARASOTA – As coronavirus restrictions leave states, millions of Americans are leaving their home.
This comes from a New York Times analysis of location data from the smartphones of 15 million smartphone users.
Across the country, we’re seeing a larger number of people leaving their homes in the north, especially Michigan.
Before stay-at-home orders were issued, an average of around 20 percent of Americans stayed home on weekends. After stay-at-home orders were issued nationwide, that number jumped to nearly 44 percent.
That’s about the same as Florida’s numbers. At our peak, Florida saw 43 percent of its residents stay home, typically on weekends. Last week, 35 percent of Floridians stayed home, a drop of around 7 percent.
While health experts warn that more waves of COVID could surface as the result of a premature lift of restrictions, we won’t know until we have the numbers.