Presence and mobility of the population during the first wave of Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown in Italy

The non-medical policies implemented by many countries to flatten the curve during the COVID-19 outbreak has people stranded in their homes and some, out of their homes unable to return due to the disruptions in the mobility network. The availability of rich datasets (in our case, Facebook) has made it possible to study the mobility dynamics and spatial distribution of people during lockdown in Italy. Our interpretation is an effort to look deeper, describing the movements occurred during lockdown, including the territorial differences. We observe that, initially, tourists left the country and later Italians abroad managed to return, thereby, stabilising the population. With regards to internal mobility, the earliest affected regions see higher number of stationary users in the initial days of the outbreak while this is less significant for the central/ southern regions until the decree for the official lockdown on the 9th of March 2020, due 2 days later. Just before lockdown, there was not a significant exodus of people from the North to the rest of the country, instead, relocation of people between cities and their urban belts, but not towards remote areas. This will be elaborated in conclusions shedding light on possible changes in future cities.

Automated summary

By studying the mobility dynamics in Italy during the lockdown, it was observed that tourists initially left the country while Italians abroad managed to return, stabilizing the population. The most affected regions had more stationary users in the beginning of the outbreak, with a noticeable difference in central/southern regions until the official lockdown was declared on March 9, 2020, two days later. Prior to the lockdown, there was no significant exodus from the North to other parts of the country, instead there was relocation within cities and urban areas.