Americans Are Heeding Stay-At-Home Orders, CDC Says

'We need to really maximize our social distancing. It's all hands on deck right now. No letup,' said CDC Director Robert Redfield

Observing social distancing guidelines, a shop owner meets customers standing in line in Whittier, California, on April 9, 2020. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Americans in four cities with substantial numbers of COVID-19 infections are heeding calls for social distancing and potentially helping curb the spread of the disease, new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows.

“Actions such as social distancing are especially critical when medical countermeasures such as vaccines or therapeutics are not available,” researchers said in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Monday. The study used community mobility as a proxy for social distancing.