County scores low on social distancing

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According to the World Health Organization and the CDC, social distancing is currently the most effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

Location data company Unacast created an interactive scoreboard, updated daily, to empower organizations to measure and understand the efficacy of social distancing initiatives at the local level. The website has a real-time “Social Distancing Scoreboard” for the United States, each state and every county. 

The website gives each state a letter grade based on three measures: reduction in average mobility based on distance traveled, which is an overall metric looking at how many people are moving and how far; reduction in visits to non-essential venues; and decrease in encounters density compared to the national baseline, which is the number of instances two people are within 50 meters of each other for 60 minutes or less.

The state has been given a grade of D- while Mitchell County earned a D. Mitchell County currently has Fs in the reduction of average mobility and reduction in non-essential visits but earned a B in decrease in encounters density.

The county’s overall grade was an F through February and March, but increased to a C on Saturday, April 4, before dropping to a D on Sunday, April 12.

See the full map at unacast.com.