Movement in the Adelaide CBD bounces back after short lockdown while movement in the Sydney CBD continues to trail other cities

A special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows movement in the Adelaide CBD bounced back quickly following its short lockdown in July while movement remains low in both the Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD – both in lockdown.
The average 7-day movement level in the Adelaide CBD was at 40% of pre-pandemic averages in early August, up by 25% points from a low of 15% in late July. The entire State of South Australia was locked down from July 21-27, 2021 to deal with the State’s first outbreak of COVID-19 so far this year.
The average movement level in the Sydney CBD was at only 10% of pre-pandemic levels in early August and well below other cities. Greater Sydney has now entered its seventh week of lockdown since the city was first locked down on Saturday June 26.
The city of Melbourne was still recovering from its fifth lockdown in late July with average movement levels in the Melbourne CBD at only 20% of pre-pandemic levels in early August. The State of Victoria was in lockdown from July 16-27 and exited lockdown only briefly before returning to lockdown just a week later.
The Perth CBD has regained its spot as Australia’s most ‘COVID-normal’ city with average movement levels at 55% of pre-pandemic averages in early August. This is the highest they’ve been since early June and the first time Perth has sat atop the rankings since late January when the city entered its second lockdown.
Just behind in second place is the Hobart CBD with movement levels at 47% of pre-pandemic averages in early August and the Brisbane CBD at 46% of pre-pandemic averages before last week’s short lockdown. These results do not include the impact of the most recent lockdowns in Victoria or SE Queensland.

Australian Capital City CBDs average 7-day movement levels March 1, 2020 – August 1, 2021:
% Movement is compared to the 7-day average in Jan-Feb 2020

Source: Roy Morgan collaboration with UberMedia who provide anonymous aggregated insights using mobile location data. Note: Movement data for the Capital City CBDs excludes the residents of the respective CBDs.The latest vaccination figures from the Health Department show over 13.7 million vaccination doses have so far been administered to nearly 45% of the adult population. If herd immunity requires 80% of Australia’s 20.6 million adults to be fully vaccinated, we are just over 40% of the way to administering the 33 million vaccination doses required to reach this mark.
Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technology innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we deal with the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The interactive dashboard available tracks the movement data for those visiting the Capital City CBDs during 2020 and 2021, excluding the CBD residents of each city. Movement data from several key locations around Australia is also available to view by using the interactive dashboard.
Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says over 10 million Australians in Greater Sydney and Greater Melbourne remain locked down this week as Australia’s two largest cities deal with continuing outbreaks of COVID-19:

“Despite around 5 million people in South East Queensland and Country Victoria emerging from short lockdowns this week over 10 million Australians remain locked down as we head towards mid-August.
“The Delta variant of COVID-19 is highly contagious and is proving hard to eliminate in both Greater Sydney (now in its seventh straight week of lockdown) and Greater Melbourne (now in its third lockdown since Winter began totaling over five weeks in total).
“The movement levels in the two locked down cities continue to be at only a fraction of their pre-pandemic averages. In the Sydney CBD movement levels in early August were at only 10% of pre-pandemic averages and at only 20% in the Melbourne CBD – even before that city was locked down for a record sixth time.
“This is a heavy contrast with the folks out west with movement levels in the Perth CBD now at 55% of pre-pandemic averages, the highest they’ve been since early June. This is the first time the average movement levels in the Perth CBD have topped all other cities in this measure since late January more than six months ago.
“The biggest factor determining when Australia can enter a ‘COVID-normal’ period is the vaccination rollout. The lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne are certainly providing an incentive for residents in these two cities to get vaccinated and the rollout is speeding up as more vaccines become available.
“In mid-August over 13.7 million vaccine doses have now been administered to nearly 45% of Australia’s adult population. To reach the threshold of 80% of Australia’s adult population fully vaccinated requires at least 33 million vaccine doses to be delivered.

“At a rate of 1 million vaccine doses delivered per week this vaccination threshold will be reached in mid-December which means that although there is light at the end of the tunnel we are likely to still face snap lockdowns and border closures for at least the next four months on the road to ‘COVID-normal’.”

View the latest Roy Morgan UberMedia movement data for Australian Capital City CBDs including the Melbourne CBD, Sydney CBD, Perth CBD, Adelaide CBD and Hobart CBD here.

MORE INFORMATION

Michele Levine – direct: 03 9224 5215 | mobile: 0411 129 093 | Michele.Levine@roymorgan.com