Where would Ontario be today if we'd gone into lockdown before Christmas instead of after? I obtained new cellphone mobility data to examine what happened in the week before Boxing Day lockdown—a highly consequential period, as you can see in below charts
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/01/10/why-did-ontario-covid-19-rates-surge-after-christmas-new-cellphone-mobility-data-offers-some-clues.html

For one: Mobility data suggests a lot of people circumvented lockdown by simply traveling to nearby regions. In two malls in Halton and Durham, there were *more* last-minute Christmas shoppers from locked-down areas than there were local shoppers

For this story, I also spoke with risk communications expert Dr. Jody Lanard ( @EIDGeek) about Ontario's decision to delay lockdown until after Christmas. A 'big mistake,' she says.

"The few days before the lockdown…did the most damage of all the weeks leading up to Boxing Day'

Story also includes insights from @DrJeffKwong and @AshTuite. @primarydata helped with data analysis and graphics are by @CTulk, @DeightonMcKenna and Jordan Tamblyn.