Footfalls at transit points such as bus stops, train stations and subways in the latest week were at their highest since February 2020, the earliest since mobility data began to be available. Search engine Google tracks people’s visits to various categories of places using anonymised location data to understand how people are moving during the pandemic. The data is released with a lag.

       The latest is as of November 25. This is one day after the identification of the new Covid-19 variant (Omicron). The World Health Organisation designated it as a variant of concern on November 26. ...