Urban Mobility as Metric of COVID-19

During the global pandemic COVID-19, restrictions on mobility and transport for health reasons have risen to 88% in Spain during the months of March, April and May 2020. The impact of these measures has not only reached the target of health as it was the primary objective but has also had a very significant impact in the environmental and energy fields. The main goal of this work is to determine whether urban mobility can be considered a sufficiently robust metric of COVID-19 in these three areas, so as to allow inferring future stages, the success of new health strategies or the quantification of polluting emissions to the atmosphere. The results obtained show a strong correlation between the level of social interaction and the rate of reproduction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in real time, over 0.81 for the most relevant European cities, as well as between the Index of Red Eléctrica for the final demand in the service and transport sectors and the number of users of urban transit, over 0.89. In addition, the annual reduction in CO2 emissions has been estimated at 21.1%, considering the most conservative scenario from the health point of view for the rest of 2020. Finally, a brief reflection is outlined on the urban planning management model and their social communication given the key role played in viral-respiratory pandemic crisis situations. Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Urban mobility, Transport, Energy, Pollutant emissions to the atmosphere, CO2