Determinants of the Community Mobility During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey

The spread of COVID-19 worldwide in a short time has ensured to take precautions at the government level to mitigate the transmission of coronavirus. Implementing social distancing interventions and aiming to reduce mobility are the main methods to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In this study, the case of Turkey is discussed to explore the degree of relationships among daily death, daily cases, social distancing regulations, and mobility. To accomplish this goal, data from the Ministry of Health of Turkey, Coronavirus Government Response Tracker by Blavatnik School of Management and Oxford University, and Google’s Covid-19 Community Mobility Reports between March 12 and July 29, 2020, was used. A proposed model was tested with integrated data via Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) methodology. Our results show that daily deaths are the main driver while developing social distancing regulations. Also, social distancing interventions have a negative impact on mobility in groceries & pharmacies, transit stations, retail and recreational areas, parks, and workplaces, but a positive one on residential mobility.