Scant scanning as shoppers put bargain-hunting first
Very few Boxing Day shoppers were seen using the Covid tracer app. Amber Allott and Leighton Keith report.
As tens of thousands of Boxing Day shoppers packed malls and supermarkets, Covid precautions seemed to be a low priority for almost all of them.
Alarmingly few of those we observed bothered to sign in with the tracer app, or wear a mask.
An epidemiologist has warned against complacency as a new, more infectious strain of the virus emerges.
Queues were reported at malls and shopping centres around the country as shoppers lined up to be in first for big discounts. At one Christchurch mall, a punter described customers pushing and shoving.
And most appeared to walk straight past signs urging them to scan with their Covid tracer app before entering.
Outside the Stanmore Rd New World, in the inner-Christchurch suburb of Richmond, only four shoppers were observed scanning QR codes, set on each side of the doors, out of the 99 people who entered the store between 2pm and 2.30pm.
None wore masks.
In New Plymouth, shoppers visiting the Molesworth St Bunnings Warehouse also appeared to be paying little regard to Covid-19 protocols.
Of the 91 people who entered the store between 1.15pm and 1.45pm only five – an elderly woman, a male tradie, and two women and another man, used the app to sign in. This was despite a large blackboard at the main entrance to the store reminding customers to do so.
Again, no one was seen wearing a mask.
It was a similar situation earlier at New Plymouth’s Valley Megacentre in Waiwhakaiho, and the Centre City shopping complex in New Plymouth’s CBD where there was no sign of anyone wearing a mask or using the app.
University of Otago epidemiologist Michael Baker said the lack of community cases in New Zealand had given rise to complacency.
‘‘When people see a risk is decreasing, they stop taking actions focusing on that risk, and start returning their focus to their day- to- day lives.’’
He was not sure whether most shoppers even thought about signing in now.
‘‘It’s hard to convince people to scan in with the QR code, when they think the risk is gone . . . But this is part of our last line of defence.’’
Baker encouraged all Kiwis to make sure they have downloaded the Government’s Covid tracer app, and enabled Bluetooth on their smartphones.
But the most important thing to do was to stay in if sick, and call Healthline if any symptoms appeared.
‘‘At this time of year, there are less general colds and illnesses going around, so if you show symptoms, there’s a higher risk
of it actually being Covid.’’
Although the chances of catching the virus in New Zealand were still low, Baker said there is no harm in taking advantage of the Boxing Day sales to buy a reusable face mask.
‘‘There’s always pressure on the virus to create more infectious strains, that’s how they work . . . It’s what we’re seeing in the UK and South Africa at the moment.
‘‘That new strain will become the dominant one coming in from the UK in the next few weeks, so we need to consider putting more barriers in place to reduce the risk of it getting into the country.
‘‘We’ve got to keep the borders secure for many months until vaccines start to have an impact, to protect the many vulnerable people in our country.’’