Recovery tracker: Drop in mobility, air traffic seen in previous week

The past week saw lower activity than before, with more people staying at home.

The number of Covid-19 cases rose to 16,935 over the last 24 hours, according to a government statement on Monday. This is slightly higher than the 16,678 cases in the previous week. The drop in activity could also have been because of a religious holiday (Eid-ul-Zuha or Bakrid).

Search engine Google uses anonymised location data to track how people are moving during the pandemic. It showed a decline workplace visits during the previous week. Retail and recreation visits also fell, as did essential shopping in the form of grocery and pharmacy visits. There was an increase in the amount of time spent at home.

There was a drop in the number of flights taken. For example, there were around 340,000 passengers on July 17 compared to 348,000 passengers on the previous Sunday. There were also fewer flights.

The Indian Railways recorded 4.91 per cent growth in the quantity of goods carried in the latest week, a decline when compared to 8.28 per cent in the previous week. It recorded a 16.49 per cent rise in freight revenue, or the money it made from carrying these goods. The growth was higher (22.56 per cent) in the previous week.

Power generation in the country continued to moderate and it was down 3.2 per cent from the previous week but higher compared to 2019 levels, based on reporting day data. The power producers in the country generated 4,276 million units (MU) of electricity per day on average in the latest week. It was 4,418 MUs per day in the previous week. In comparison, power generation was 3,817 MUs per day during the corresponding week in 2019.

Indians registered around 342,000 vehicles in the latest week. This is 7.3 per cent lower than the corresponding figure in 2019. The gap was wider in the previous week, at 17 per cent.

Monday 9 am traffic in major metros picked up on July 18, shows data from global location technology firm TomTom International. It was only 32 per cent below 2019 levels in New Delhi compared to 42 per cent in the previous week. Mumbai traffic was 31 per cent below 2019 levels in Mumbai compared to a 35 per cent drop on July 11.

Business Standard tracks these indicators as a way of keeping track of the economy on a weekly basis. Official macroeconomic data is often released with a lag. Analysts globally have been tracking similar indicators. It gives a picture of the situation on the ground amid restrictions to control the Covid-19 pandemic that began more than two years ago.

Google data is released with a lag. The latest is as of July 13. Traffic data is as of July 18, Monday 9 am. All other data is as of Sunday, July 17.