Canberrans left home on weekends the most in Australia during lockdown

Canberrans left their homes more than in any other jurisdiction in the country on weekends but also stayed at home the most during weekdays when compared with the pre-COVID-19 baseline, analysis of the latest Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports shows.

As the chart shows, the difference between the percentage increase in time spent at home on weekdays and on weekends has ballooned since the National Cabinet announced the stage 2 lockdown measures on the 24th of March.

The data show that both the ACT and Victoria averaged a weekday increase of time spent in residential areas of about 21.5% over the past two months. However, the ACT spent its weekends at home only 12.6% more than usual while Victoria averaged at 18.1%. The ACT’s weekend rate is more comparable to Queensland’s, even though Queenslanders increased their weekday rate to merely 15.1%.

The ACT’s high weekday rate may have to do with having a high proportion of residents who can work from home. According to 2016 ABS Census data — the latest available — 56.9% of the ACT’s workforce were managers or professionals, compared to 43.8% and 43.4% in NSW and Victoria, respectively.

Despite such favourable conditions to stay at home, the ACT has notched up the lowest increase in weekend time spent at home in the country.

When approached for comment, a spokesperson for ACT Health said: “Overall, the ACT Government is pleased with the response from the community, including Canberrans commitment to comply with gathering number limits and adhering to physical distancing measures.”

“The ACT has flattened the curve and is now able to ease restrictions. Canberrans know that while restrictions have eased, their responsibilities to help limit the spread of COVID-19 has not.”

Despite these lacklustre weekend results, the ACT has no active cases of COVID-19 and has had 107 confirmed cases so far.

Nationally, the Google data show that Australians spent 18.3% more of their weekdays and 14.7% more of their weekends in residential areas in the period between the announcement of the stage 2 lockdown and the Prime Minister’s unveiling of the National Cabinet’s roadmap to a COVIDSafe Australia.