Impact of mobility based network on COVID-19 spread

ABSTRACT COVID-19 has had a strong impact on this world. With the spreading of the virus and the implementation of various mitigation measures, the pandemic has indubitably upended our way of living. Research indicates that mobility is one of the key reasons of the spread. The purpose of this paper is to provide a suitable mobility measure based on intra-county and inter-county movements on the spreading of COVID-19 in the United States. Deviating from the extant research, which measures mobility by the average distance people travel, we operationalise mobility by the number of trips made. We further weigh them based on the current caseload, as the spread will not only depend on how many people are moving but also the proportion of infectious people within them. We also distinguish such trips based on their origin and destination, as that may help in taking appropriate policy decisions for intervention.