Traveling while cases are surging

A new analysis of cell phone data suggests more Americans from 10 coronavirus hotspots hit the road over the July 4 holiday, compared to Memorial Day weekend and the two-week prior average. This is despite warnings from health experts, surging infection rates and, in some places, quarantine orders on out-of-state travelers. The analysis comes from data shared with CNN by Cuebiq, one of the private companies that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses to track general movement in the United States. Cuebiq gets its data when people download apps on their phones and opt into anonymous location data tracking. The company's full data set includes 15 million phones nationwide. Mobility, experts say, is one driver of coronavirus transmission. Of the metropolitan cities examined, Orlando saw the largest increase in visitors, compared to the weeks leading up to the holiday weekend, and Charleston saw the highest percentage of visitors among the 10 metro areas. In both areas, roughly 1 in 5 devices was determined to be a visitor, according to Cuebiq's analysis. Visits have been steadily increasing in Charleston through June, the company's data showed. Of the 10 areas, Atlanta residents were most likely to travel. About 20% of Cuebiq-tracked residents left the state and traveled to another city during the July 4th weekend. Many went to Florida. Health experts predict this kind of mobility will lead to a spike in cases.