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Opinion
Ben Schott

Some Countries Are Taking Social Distancing More Seriously Than Others

In Italy, public places are a lot quieter than before the spread of coronavirus. In Sweden, they’re busier.

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Google has deployed the tracking data it collects from users around the world to assess our movements before and after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.

Charted below are the location trends for places such as national parks, public beaches, marinas, dog parks, plazas and public gardens. They illustrate which countries reacted most swiftly to the call for social distancing (e.g. Italy) and which lagged behind (e.g. Sweden).