Francis Muli
The Covid-19 pandemic changed the lifestyles of millions of people globally. Stay at home orders and lockdowns are slowly being eased as a solution to the pandemic is still being sought. Harsh economic times have forced more people out of their homes to go hustle for their daily bread.
According to Google location data, Kenyans are slowly going back to work. Google uses your location settings through your mobile phone to access your location data, which is then sent to its servers. This is how the resource is used to map the location behaviour patterns of a community.
Since April, the company has provided Community mobile reports to share insights into the changes experienced due to the policies put in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The April report revealed a 22 per cent dip in workplace location pings. This is due to the fact that most Kenyans were working from home, while some were simply not going to work.
Read: Google Maps Will Soon Let You Know How Crowded Your Public Transport Stage Is
The June 2020 report, however, reveals that there is a rise in workplace pings by 3 per cent. This means that people are now slowly going back to work. In Nakuru County, there is a 7 per cent rise and 24 per cent rise in Trans Nzoia of people going to work, compared to May. In Nairobi, the figure is a 3 per cent decline and 35 per cent decline in Tharaka Nithi County.
The curfew hours have been eased and restriction in places like Eastleigh lifted. Restaurants also have their working hours from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm and this is bound to have an effect on our lifestyles. It will be interesting to see what the report says next.
Google is currently using its Maps feature to show ‘crowdedness’ at your Matatu stage or bus stop at certain times of the day.
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