While the World Health Organisation has advised that contact tracing will be crucial in the event of a second wave of COVID-19, how many Kiwis are really keeping track of where they’ve been?
Under Alert Level 1 rules, manual sign-in is no longer required at restaurant and cafes, but the government does require businesses to use a QR code poster at the door so people can scan in and keep a record for themselves.
When Kiwis hit the bars, pubs, and restaurants, however, scanning a QR code at the door isn’t likely to become a habit, especially with so many calling the government’s Tracer App ‘clunky’ and ‘complicated’.
"I think Kiwis are pretty comfortable with where we are at with COVID," commented Hospitality New Zealand Wellington branch president Matt McLaughlin.
There has also been much confusion over which tracing app to use. With so many apps around, many might have relegated contact tracing to the too hard basket. McLaughlin said that bars were recommended to use the Webfox app by Hospitality New Zealand but were recommended Rippl by the Wellington City Council.
It is estimated there have been over 20 contact tracing apps used to date with users already expressed that too many contact tracing apps could do more harm than good.
"There's a whole range of apps out there, and all have different conditions and different levels of privacy," said Dr Andrew Chen, an expert in-person tracking technology at Auckland University.
Where data was being stored was of concern to many who had chosen not to download an app.
“At my local café, they were using a really simply QR code that didn’t require an app, then they changed to the government Tracer one, I don’t have that app so I no longer bother signing in when I get my coffee,” said one Auckland customer.
Another major concern was the many Kiwis who don’t have a phone that can even scan a QR code, many of them being from demographics particularly vulnerable to the virus.
Both the Dunedin City Council and Wellington City Council have invested in Rippl, which was established before the app from the Ministry of Health (MOH). Unlike the Ministry's app, Rippl can work on older phones, measures visit duration and all its data does not leave New Zealand.
A MOH spokesman said it has released data specifications for developers of apps so that they can adopt official QR codes, and in future integrate their solutions with the Ministry.
With it no longer the responsibility of businesses to keep track only time will tell if individual Kiwis step up to the plate. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that there is no second wave and that we can put this pandemic behind us, in the meantime, please keep track of where you go, even if it’s by hand in a notebook, for all our sakes.
