El Paso, Las Cruces receive ‘C’ grades for social distancing on national scoreboard: See the data
EL PASO, Texas -- A company that analyzes GPS data from smartphones gives the Borderland a "C" grade for social distancing, which is below the national grade average of a "B."
New York-based technology company Unacast created a "social distancing scoreboard" which ranks areas across the country. (Scroll down to the bottom of this article to examine the latest scorecard data for yourself.)
Both El Paso and Dona Ana counties currently have "C" grades on the scoreboard as of Monday afternoon. The state of Texas receives a "B" rating as does the nation, while the state of New Mexico gets a "C" grade.
Dr. Hector Ocaranza of the El Paso City/County Health Authority has repeatedly emphasized the importance of social distancing to stop community spread of the coronavirus in the Borderland.
“We must all understand that if we want to stop this virus... we must all do our part by strictly practicing social distancing, stay at home as ordered and follow the CDC guidelines,” Ocaranza said as recently as Sunday night when he announced El Paso County virus cases had grown to 40, in part from community spread. In Dona Ana County, as of Monday, there are currently 18 people infected.
Unacast compares current location data to data collected during pre-pandemic movements and notes changes in total distance traveled, time spent around the house, and activity clusters. Unacast presents that data as letter grades from A to F, depending on how much a specific area has reduced its travel away from home.
Or as Forbes explains: "Built off smartphone data that covers up to 15 percent of people in every county of the U.S., the scorecard compares how much people traveled each day before and after the coronavirus outbreak. In other words, scores are not based on the distances traveled but rather on the degree to which state residents have changed their behavior."
The scoreboard is updated as new data becomes available, which the board's moderators said can take a few days to process, so there's a lag in calculations.
