Govt hopes Bluetooth will have bite

As complacency grips Kiwis, the Government is hoping the roll-out of Bluetooth close-contact tracking will turbo-boost the response in the event of a summer Covid-19 outbreak.

New Zealanders will today be able to use the Covid Tracer app on their phones to record other devices they come into close proximity with.

It comes as the rate of QR scanning has plummeted once again, with only 8 per cent of app users actually scanning any codes in the past 24 hours.

The Bluetooth technology becomes far more valuable the more people use it, and is endorsed by the Privacy Commissioner.

“Kiwis deserve a summer break more than ever this year but we cannot take our eye off the ball,” Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.

Hipkins warned the Bluetooth technology was no substitute for scanning QR codes.

“QR codes allow us to create a private record of the places we’ve been, while Bluetooth creates an anonymised record of the people we’ve been near.

“It allows app users to receive an alert if they have been near another app user who tests positive for Covid19.”

Public health experts have continued to urge the Government to make greater use of technology in its Covid response, especially as the public has seen varying levels of complacency in recent months.

There are currently 2.4 million registered users of the Covid Tracer app, 90 per cent of whom have Bluetooth-compatible phones.

But Ministry data shows the number of active users has plummeted from almost 1 million at the start of September to 197,919 on Monday.

Only 8 per cent of registered users are considered active users.

Bluetooth tracing works by generating randomised “keys” and exchanging them with other nearby smartphones.

When an app user tests positive, they can choose to alert other app users who may have been exposed to the virus. This involves uploading the “keys” that their phone has broadcast since they became infectious.

If your phone has one of the keys, you’ll receive an alert along with advice on what you should do next.

The Ministry of Health will not know you have received an alert unless you choose to get in touch.

The ministry can still send out push alerts on the app about exposure events to people who have scanned QR codes in places visited by potentially infectious people.