Commute and mobility patterns evidenced from telecommunications data can inform reopening strategies after COVID-19 lockdowns

Using mobile phone data from 2019, we extract spatially disaggregate origin-destination information for the metropolitan area of the Aburrá Valley (which includes Medellín) in Colombia. We use this data for a simulation in which movement within spatially demarcated “communities” is mostly allowed, while movement between them is restricted – showing that such a strategy could allow many people to return to work while limiting the spread of the COVID-19 virus.