Changing travel patterns in China during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
Autor
Gibbs, Hamish
Liu, Yang
Pearson, Carl A. B.
Jarvis, Christopher I.
Grundy, Chris
Quilty, Billy J.
Diamond, Charlie
Eggo, Rosalind M.
Institución
Resumen
Understanding changes in human mobility in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic is
crucial for assessing the impacts of travel restrictions designed to reduce disease spread.
Here, relying on data from mainland China, we investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics
of human mobility between 1st January and 1st March 2020, and discuss their public health
implications. An outbound travel surge from Wuhan before travel restrictions were implemented was also observed across China due to the Lunar New Year, indicating that holiday
travel may have played a larger role in mobility changes compared to impending travel
restrictions. Holiday travel also shifted healthcare pressure related to COVID-19 towards
locations with lower healthcare capacity. Network analyses showed no sign of major changes
in the transportation network after Lunar New Year. Changes observed were temporary
and did not lead to structural reorganisation of the transportation network during the
study period.