The government’s efforts to lock down cities amid the coronavirus outbreak have proved effective, as the country witnessed a 51 per cent drop in footfalls across States, data reveal.

According to the real-time step count data collected by over 5 lakh people who are using GOQii Activity trackers, the average footfalls have dropped from 6,432 steps on March 2 to 3,146 steps on March 17.

With the growing increase in positive cases of Covid-19, Mumbai and Pune have seen a fairly steep decline of daily step count. While Mumbai has seen a steep drop of 52 per cent, Pune’s decline has been 49 per cent.

Though some States do not have confirmed Covid-19 cases yet, most of India seems to be taking precautions anyway. Footfalls have dropped across States, from 34 per cent in Haryana to 62 per cent — the highest — in Kerala, as on March 17.

 

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Combination of reasons

Data reveal that the drop in average daily step count is due to a combination of reasons — including the call for social distancing, fear of stepping out into crowded spaces/public transport vehicles, closure of all public places such as malls, cinema halls, religious places of worship, gyms etc, and the work from home option offered by several enterprises.

“The Government of India is doing a fantastic job with PM Modi himself at the helm and overseeing that all preventive measures are being put together by the various State health authorities to contain the spread of this deadly virus,” said Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO, GOQii. “But it is also our ethical and moral obligation towards our society to curb our activities and practise social distancing.”

The PM’s idea of declaring a ‘Janta Curfew’ on March 22 is a very good one, he said. While India is currently witnessing a 51 per cent decline in footfalls, with the Janta Curfew it can reach 100 per cent lockdown, he added.

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