THE North-East is still staying home, nearly a year on, Google data on how people are responding to Covid reveals. 

The data shows how visits to places, such as corner shops and parks, are changing across the world - including in the North-East. 

Google started releasing the location data in April last year to help public health officials track how people are responding to lockdowns during the pandemic.

Using a baseline from before the pandemic, which is the median value for the same day of the week during the five-week period January 3 to 6 February 6 2020, the data reveals people in the North-East are still spending more time at home than anywhere else.

All North-East area saw around a 30 per cent increase in people at home compared to before the pandemic. 

The most recent report, using data from January 1, does not reflect the new national lockdown. The North-East was previously placed under Tier 4 restrictions, where people were also only allowed to leave home for essential reasons.

During the first lockdown, on April 21, people in Hartlepool were visiting shops a huge 93 per cent less, 92 per cent less in Darlington, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton, 91 per cent in Middlesbrough and 90 per cent in County Durham.

Numbers only reached this low again on Christmas Day, despite the short, second lockdown in Autumn.

Data, aggregated and anonymised for 131 countries and regions to highlight movement trends over time, is gathered from Google Maps or the search giant’s other services.

No personal details, such as an individual’s location, contacts or movement, is disclosed.

The reports, which are published regularly with a lag of two to three days, chart whether more or less people are going to shops, parks, pharmacies, train stations and offices.

The data is traditionally used by Google for apps such as Maps to reveal when specific places of interest are busiest, as well as to revise driving routes when being used for navigation.

Here's what activity looks like today compared to before the pandemic:

Darlington

Retail and recreation - drop of 87 per cent below baseline 

Supermarket and pharmacy - drop of 72 per cent below baseline 

Parks - drop of 40 per cent below baseline, however data is limited as it does not meet the quality and privacy threshold for each day 

Public transport - drop of 87 per cent below baseline 

Workplaces - drop of 85 per cent below baseline 

Residential - rise of 31 per cent above baseline 

County Durham

Retail and recreation - drop of 82 per cent below baseline 

Supermarket and pharmacy - drop of 67 per cent below baseline 

Parks - drop of 3 per cent below baseline 

Public transport - drop of 78 per cent below baseline 

Workplaces - drop of 82 per cent below baseline 

Residential - rise of 30 per cent above baseline 

Redcar and Cleveland

Retail and recreation - drop of 89 per cent below baseline 

Supermarket and pharmacy - drop of 71 per cent below baseline 

Parks - drop of 53 per cent below baseline, however data is limited as it does not meet the quality and privacy threshold for each day 

Public transport - drop of 81 per cent below baseline

Workplaces - drop of 80 per cent below baseline

Residential - rise of 29 per cent above baseline

Middlesbrough 

Retail and recreation - drop of 89 per cent below baseline 

Supermarket and pharmacy - drop of 69 per cent below baseline 

Parks - drop of 36 per cent below baseline, however data is limited as it does not meet the quality and privacy threshold for each day 

Public transport - drop of 89 per cent below baseline

Workplaces - drop of 77 per cent below baseline

Residential - rise of 27 per cent above baseline

Stockton 

Retail and recreation - drop of 87 per cent below baseline

Supermarket and pharmacy - drop of 70 per cent below baseline

Parks - drop of 14 per cent below baseline

Public transport - drop of 86 per cent below baseline

Workplaces - drop of 83 per cent below baseline

Residential - rise of 30 per cent above baseline

Hartlepool

Retail and recreation - drop of 86 per cent below baseline

Supermarket and pharmacy - drop of 69 per cent below baseline

Parks - No data is available as it does not meet the quality and privacy threshold for each day 

Public transport - drop of 71 per cent below baseline

Workplaces - drop of 81 per cent below baseline

Residential - rise of 28 per cent above baseline

Nationally, across the whole UK:

Retail and recreation - drop of 83 per cent below baseline

Supermarket and pharmacy - drop of 64 per cent below baseline

Parks - drop of 5 per cent below baseline 

Public transport - drop of 82 per cent below baseline

Workplaces - drop of 83 per cent below baseline

Residential - rise of 32 per cent above baseline