THE NUMBER of people going to work dropped by almost a third in the week before Christmas, new data has revealed.

Following the Government’s guidance on home working to help curb the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, activity in Oxfordshire workplaces was down 38 per cent than pre-pandemic levels.

The data has been retrieved from Google, which uses location data from phones and other personal devices to rack trends in people’s movements in different areas of their lives – including where they work.

The most recent figures show that activity in the working week to December 17 was 38.2 per cent lower than during a five-week baseline period recorded before the coronavirus pandemic.

This was down 33.2 per cent from normal levels in the five days to December 10, and a month earlier when it was 32.8 per cent below the baseline.

Across the UK activity in workplaces was 29.6 per cent below normal in the most recent week’s data – the lowest level recorded since the end of October.

The data reflects the Government’s Plan B measures in England, which included the wider wearing of face masks, mandatory use of Covid passes for large venues, and a return to the work from home order.