Falls Church Scores ‘C+’ on Social Distancing Effort

Jody Fellows

Jody Fellows is the managing editor of the Falls Church News-Press.

2020-04-27in

Virginia has scored a D- while the City of Falls Church has received an overall social distancing grade of C+ based on community activity using metrics comparing current mobility data to that before the Covid-19 outbreak.

The assessments come from data company Unacast which created a social distancing scoreboard last month assigning grades to states and their localities using location data from residents’ mobile phones.

Localities’ overall grades are based on three metrics that measure reductions in mobility and encounters since the onset of the pandemic and introduction of social distancing measures. The metrics are: 1) the reduction in average distance traveled, 2) the reduction in non-essential visits, and 3) the decrease in human encounters density compared to a national baseline.

According to Unacast data, Falls Church is currently experiencing a 55-70 percent mobility reduction, which scores a B; a more than 70 percent reduction in non-essential visits, good for an A; but receives an F for having a decrease of less than 40 percent in human encounters. The City’s overall C+ social distancing grade is scored using the three metrics above.

Fairfax County, with a C grade, received a nearly-identical assessment as Falls Church with the exception of non-essential visit which is measuring a 65-70 percent reduction. City neighbor Arlington County nabbed an overall grade of B-, thanks in part to a greater than 70 percent reduction in average mobility.

Virginia’s grade of D- bests only eight other states in the country with Unacast reporting a 40-55 percent reduction in average mobility, less than 55 percent reduction in non-essential visits and a less than 40 percent decrease in human encounters in the state.

The United States as a whole is scoring a D+ for its social distancing efforts with the nation’s highest grade of B going to Nevada.

According to Unacast, the social distancing scoreboard uses data from “tens of millions of anonymous mobile phones and their interactions with each other each day.” Grades for states and localities are updated daily as new location data comes in.