But what do these behaviors look like across the different countries we surveyed?

We found that Germany was the most consistent country in following both protective measures. 72% of respondents living in Germany said they had been social distancing (the highest number of respondents for any country), while 70% reported wearing masks.

Respondents in Italy were the most likely to wear a mask when leaving the house, with 73% reporting that they had worn one in the last week. By contrast, only 10% of respondents in Australia reported wearing a mask when they left home.

Folks in the UK were more likely to be social distancing than their neighbors across the pond, with 69% of Brits reporting that they’d kept their distance when leaving their homes. That number is 12% lower in the States, where 61% of respondents said they had maintained their distance.

That said, people in the US were more likely to wear a mask than those in the UK. Of those we surveyed, 72% of respondents in America said they had worn a mask when leaving their homes in the last week. That number is just 42% in the UK.

The numbers above also give an idea of the inconsistency of advice (or at least the following of advice) between countries – protective priorities differ wildly across borders.

Major city movement is rising

Linked to protective measures is how people are moving around under Covid-19. To investigate, we used Citymapper’s Mobility Index data. This shows us the percentage of people moving in major cities around the world, compared to ‘normal’ times. Note: We looked at data from major cities in all the countries we studied above, but Citymapper doesn’t provide data on China.

In the chart you’ll see how each country was bustling with movement in early March, how things then dipped, and how things are now beginning to recover at different rates.

For example, at the start of March Parisians were on the move in the city of love pretty much as normal. At its lowest point, during lockdown on April 4, only 4% of the city was moving compared to normal levels. There’s been an impressive comeback, though – now, it’s the most active city we studied. With high uptake of both social distancing and mask wearing in France, citizens clearly feel safe enough to venture out in comparison to those in other big cities.

Right now, of all the cities we looked at with Citymapper, New York has the lowest percentage of people moving around.

At its lowest point on April 18, only 4% of the city was moving compared to normal times. It has slowly increased, reaching a high of 19% on July 9. Despite the high levels of mask wearing and social distancing reported by US citizens broadly, clearly there is still a lot of trepidation in the Big Apple. Of course, every state, city, and town has its own regulations and anxiety levels to contend with.

The curve in movement in Sydney has been fairly relaxed compared to the other cities, not dipping nearly as low in movement. That movement has risen steadily since its lowest point (of 10% movement compared to normal on April 10) to its highest (of 51% on July 4). While 67% of respondents in Australia said they’ve been sticking to social distancing, only 10% said they’d been wearing a mask in our most recent survey. While people are getting out and about, they’re not taking the mask-wearing precaution those in some other countries seem to be prioritizing.

This highlights nuanced cultural differences that we have to be mindful of. Life in Sydney is vastly different to that in Paris, just like Paris is different to New York and New York is different to London. Every country in the world is at a different stage of containing the virus and each has its own approach.

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Stay safe and have a great weekend,

Brandwatch Response Team