Analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows movement in the Sydney CBD fell to only 26% of pre-pandemic averages last week, even before the city was placed into a two-week lockdown.
The average seven-day movement level in the Sydney CBD last week was at its lowest since early January, during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Northern Beaches, according to analysis by Roy Morgan in collaboration with UberMedia.
Movement levels will fall further this week after the Sydney metropolitan area was placed into its first lockdown since mid-May 2020.
Movement levels in the Melbourne CBD are recovering from the lockdown of the city in early June. Although restrictions on mask wearing and crowd gathering sizes remain, average movement levels in the Melbourne CBD had picked up to 18% of pre-COVID-19 averages last week, up from a low of 12% during the lockdown.
The last few days have seen a flurry of new border restrictions introduced as new cases of COVID-19 have emerged in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia as well as the Northern Territory.
The new Delta variant of COVID-19 is estimated to be as much as twice as infectious as the original virus.
Before the new restrictions introduced over the weekend, movement levels in other Capital City CBDs were at just under half of their pre-pandemic levels led by the Adelaide CBD at 46% - the only mainland State yet to report a recent community case of COVID-19.
In a close second place was the Perth CBD at 44% of pre-COVID-19 averages ahead of Brisbane CBD (40%) and Hobart CBD (39%).
Australian Capital City CBDs average seven-day movement levels March 1 – June 21:
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