Wagga Google Covid-19 mobility data shows more residents are avoiding shops and public venues

The number of people visiting Wagga's retail, recreation and work locations has declined sharply since mask rules and attendance limits were imposed.

The tech company used data from its hugely popular Google Maps app, as well as location data from smartphone users, to track the movements of residents.

On June 26, the NSW government announced strict new protection measures for regional areas in a bid to keep coronavirus outbreaks in Greater Sydney under control.

As a result, according to Google, the number of people attending Wagga's retail stores, recreation venues and workplaces plummeted, including a 13 per cent decline on June 30.

The data also indicated that public transport use dropped 59 per cent and visits to parks declined 36 per cent over the first two weeks of July as people stayed closer to home.

However, there was a 20 per cent increase in trips to supermarkets and pharmacies, while visits to residences went up by 2 per cent.

Wagga residents Paul and Carol Dean, who were out in Baylis Street on Friday afternoon, said they had been conscious to keep venturing out and supporting local businesses.

"We have been out to coffee shops as much as we can to try and support local businesses," Mrs Dean said.

"I think we've had more coffee this year than we ever had before in our lives."

Mr Dean said he had been attending his workplace less often since the new restrictions came into effect.

Wagga's drop in resident mobility was not as severe as the NSW average for the first two weeks of July.

The NSW average included a 37 per cent drop in retail and recreation visits, a 34 per cent drop in workplace attendance and 17 per cent more residential visits.

In Motion Fitness owner Mick Wainwright said he had seen a decline in the number of people taking part in both indoor and outdoor exercises in recent weeks.

"There's a massive difference," Mr Wainwright said.

"A lot of it comes down to masks; it is very hard exercising with masks on.

"You don't have to wear masks outdoors but the group sizes have to be smaller. People's spirits are down as well."

Wagga Parkrun director Chris Scott said the decline in people showing up in parks on Google's system could be from a number of factors.

"It's hard to be definitive on whether people are staying away [due to COVID] because there's also the cold weather," he said.

"We were getting very good numbers but they have dropped off in recent weeks but only to a similar level to what we have seen in previous years.

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Mr Scott said Parkrun participants were required to bring a smartphone to sign in via QR codes, and many chose to use fitness apps, but that didn't mean they could always have their location tracked by Google.

"Perhaps people are getting more and more wary of letting Google know what they are doing," he said.

Google said its mobility reports were developed with stringent privacy protocols and it removed the names from the data after collecting it from users who had opted to share their location.

Cobbler rd owner Hayley Veitch said there had definitely been fewer people out in Baylis Street since the end of June.

"We have a lot of older clientele and we haven't been seeing them around," she said.

"You can look around and just tell there are areas of the main street where there are not as many people.

"When we go out for coffee it's just so quiet in there as well. I don't think it's the weather as there haven't been as many people inside at the malls where they would be in cold weather. I think people are just scared."

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