Using Google Community Mobility Reports to investigate the incidence of COVID-19 in the United States

Abstract

In 2020 Google released a set of Community Mobility Reports (GCMR). These reports are based on the company’s location-tracking capabilities and measure changes in mobility with respect to a baseline. This novel source of data offers an opportunity to investigate potential correlations between mobility and incidence of COVID-19. Using data from the New York Times on COVID-19 cases and GCMR, this paper presents an analysis of mobility levels and incidence of COVID-19 by state in the US. The results provide insights about the utility and interpretability of GCMR for COVID-19 research and decision-making.