Report: Midland County earns a D for social distancing efforts

The LoweÃs Home Improvement parking lot was full Saturday, March 28, 2020 at 3315 N Loop 250 W. Jacy Lewis/Reporter-Telegram The LoweÃs Home Improvement parking lot was full Saturday, March 28, 2020 at 3315 N Loop 250 W. Jacy Lewis/Reporter-Telegram Photo: Jacy Lewis/Reporter-Telegram Photo: Jacy Lewis/Reporter-Telegram Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Report: Midland County earns a D for social distancing efforts 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Midland County has earned a D for its social distancing efforts, according to a website dedicated to location data-driven decisions.

Unacast has created an interactive scoreboard to empower organizations to measure and understand the efficacy of social distancing initiatives at the local level. According to Unacast, citing the World Health Organization and the CDC, social distancing is currently the most effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Factors taken into effect, according to the report, are new reported cases, change in nonessential visits and change in average mobility. To calculate the actual underlying social indexing score, Unacast reports combining tens of millions of anonymous mobile phones and their interactions with each other each day -- and then extrapolating the results to the population level.

Other counties also earning a D were Taylor (Abilene), Tom Green (San Angelo) and Crane, where the Permian Basin’s first confirmed coronavirus case took place.

Ector and Andrews counties both received a D minus, while Howard, Martin and Glasscock counties received an F.

Only 11 Bs were handed out across the state. That list of counties included Jeff Davis and Brewster counties. Lubbock received a C, despite having 61 more confirmed coronavirus cases than Midland, according to the Texas Department State Health Services.