An analysis of Google Mobility data and government’s daily COVID-19 case tally showed no direct correlation between changes in the scale of people’s mobility and the magnitude of infections since the economy further reopened in October. In October, the reopening took one step further by allowing non-essential flights to take off. This same data is used by the central bank to gauge economic activity, which in turn is considered in crafting policies. Limited movements are a result of still insufficient public transport and Jedd Ugay, a transport economist over at AltMobility PH, a commuter advocacy group, believes this needs to be augmented if also to assist in curbing cases. “If public transport is insufficient, there will always be crowding of people waiting for PUVs (public utility vehicles) to arrive, long queues, long waiting times--and all of these contribute to crowding, longer exposure risk, and ultimately higher risk of COVID transmission,” he said over email.

Source: Philippine Star March 26, 2021 07:41 UTC