Otago Daily Times

Warning to keep up tracing movements

- JAMIE MORTON

WELLINGTON: Experts have questioned whether some measures to combat Covid19 should stay mandatory after Auckland moves to Alert Level 1 at 11.59pm tomorrow.

It comes amid fresh concern about complacenc­y, prompting a plea from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern when she made yesterday’s announceme­nt on the move from Level 2 to Level 1 in Auckland.

The drop down means there will be no limits on gatherings, and social distancing requiremen­ts will be removed in restaurant­s and bars in the city.

Masks are not required on public transport in Level 1, but Ms Ardern urged people to keep being vigilant — by washing hands, staying home if sick, scanning QR codes and getting tested if even feeling slightly sick.

Ms Ardern pointed out that QR scans had halved from their peak at the height of the current outbreak.

University of Auckland technology researcher Andrew Chen had been observing that trend with concern.

‘‘As Auckland enters Level 1, we may see increased levels of mobility and will see the return of larger group gatherings,’’ Dr Chen said.

‘‘If Covid19 returns to the community, these both increase the risk of the infection spreading quickly and in ways that may be difficult to predict.’’

Dr Chen said all New Zealanders had a role to play in protecting themselves and others — and one of the most important steps they could take was keeping track of their movements.

‘‘In the event of a new outbreak, the contact tracers will

want at least 14 days of movement records to help them find other people who may have been exposed and to cut off the chains of transmissi­on,’’ he said.

‘‘We can’t just start keeping records at the beginning of the next outbreak — we need records before it arrives.

‘‘Using the NZ Covid Tracer app is one of the most effective ways to keep track of your records.’’

Otherwise, people could log their movement using penandpape­r diaries, or taking timestampe­d photos of the places they went.

‘‘This is one tool to help us reduce the impact of future outbreaks, along with other preventati­ve actions like washing your hands and wearing face masks.’’

University of Otago senior lecturer Lesley Gray, of the department of primary healthcare, felt maskwearin­g on public transport should be required at all alert levels.

‘‘I have observed that maskwearin­g on trains has dropped to very low numbers,’’ she said.

‘‘It is encouragin­g that around 3 million people have now downloaded the Covid Tracer app;

however, if people are not scanning when entering a business, or signing in if they do not have the app, is a bit like having fly screens on your windows with your doors wide open.

‘‘The better we are at recording our movements, the quicker we can alert possible contacts if we were to have a future community outbreak.

‘‘Maintainin­g good hand hygiene, covering coughs or sneezes and not becoming complacent are key.’’

Registered clinical psychologi­st Jacqui Maguire also sounded concern about maskwearin­g and gathering sizes not being enforceabl­e at Level 1.

‘‘Whilst I believe we need to maintain vigilant to a virus that is likely to reappear, without an imminent threat to daily living, it can be hypothesis­ed the lack of strict regulation­s will lead to complacenc­y,’’ she said.

‘‘From a behavioura­l psychology perspectiv­e, clarity, simplicity, reminders, routine, reinforcem­ent and reward are the ingredient­s for effective behaviour change and maintenanc­e.’’ — The New Zealand Herald

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