Effects of the hierarchical lockdown control measure on the dynamic mechanism of individuals’ locomotor activities

The COVID-19 pandemic has been spreading all over the world, causing a serious blow to human beings. The hierarchical lockdown control measure, which is widely used, can effectively curb the spread of the virus. However, recent studies have shown that the lockdown measure may be the main culprit in increasing the injury rate of elite footballers. In fact, little is known about the effects of the lockdown on the internal mechanism of individuals’ locomotor activities. Here, we investigated the effects of the hierarchical lockdown control measure on the internal mechanism of individual’s movements, using ants as a model of quarantined residents. The results show that the hierarchical lockdown control measure changes the dynamic mechanism of individuals’ locomotor activities. Specifically, the dynamic mechanisms are complicated dynamical processes rather than Lévy processes or fractional Brownian motion when the measure is not applied. The dynamic mechanisms of movements belong to Lévy walk or fractional Brownian motion when the measure is applied. The level of hierarchical lockdown control also affects the dynamic mechanism of individuals’ locomotor activities. Finally, based on the experimental data, we established a model to describe individuals’ locomotor activities. Our findings will shed light on the effects of the hierarchical lockdown control measure on individuals’ movements. We provide a possible explanation for the increasing injury rate of elite footballers. •HLC measure changes the dynamic mechanism of individuals’ locomotor activities.•Values of scaling exponent increase with the increase of the activity radius.•Established a model to describe the movement of individual ants.•Lévy flight and fBm correspond to flat plates and thin tubes, respectively.