Scanning gives us a head start in a community outbreak
Where were you last Saturday at 8.15pm? Did you go to a restaurant, and if so, can you name everyone who was there?
It’s easy to think we can remember everyone we’ve met in the past few weeks. The reality is our busy lives can make it hard to remember the detail.
Thankfully, we’ve enjoyed a mostly normal Covid-free summer break while new strains of the virus have raged overseas. A consequence of our success, however, is that NZ Covid Tracer app use trends down when we have no community cases.
We need to turn this trend on its head. A swift outbreak response hinges on us scanning now, before we learn of a case. That means the data is available for contact tracers the moment a case is notified. Ramping up our use after community transmission occurs essentially gives the virus a free pass for the first couple of generations of transmission.
I work closely with Cabinet colleagues, officials and scientists to strengthen our protections against Covid-19. Our contact tracing system has been overhauled, we are constantly reviewing our border settings, and have recently introduced Day 0/1 and pre-departure testing for most overseas arrivals.
After more than 60 days without community transmission, I am proud of the hard work we’ve done as a Government to keep New
Zealand at alert level 1. And that we have been able to secure enough vaccines for our population, although it will take time for them to arrive, and to fully roll them out.
In the meantime, rapid and efficient contact tracing is one of the sharpest tools in our arsenal to stamp out Covid-19 if it emerges in our community – but it’s only as good as all of us knowing where we’ve been.
If you see a QR code, take the time to get out your phone, open the NZ Covid Tracer app and scan the QR code. It takes a moment, but it is an important contribution to staying at alert level 1. Turning on Bluetooth adds extra data on who you’ve been in close contact with.
Keeping a written record is a good alternative if you don’t have a smartphone. At the end of the day, what’s most important is to know where you’ve been for up to two weeks prior. You can order an NZ Covid Tracer booklet on the Unite Against Covid-19 website.
Last November we saw the head start that good app use can give us when there’s a community case, after an infectious yet asymptomatic person had lunch with friends at Wellington restaurant Little Penang.
Within hours of the positive case being announced publicly, everyone who had scanned into the restaurant during the relevant time was given instructions to selfisolate through the app’s notifications, and further contact tracing was undertaken that week. The chain of transmission was quickly broken.
Wellington avoided further restrictions, Little Penang carried out a deep clean, and one of the capital’s most beloved nasi gorengs was back on the menu. We need to be able to rapidly contact-trace to prevent future lockdowns.
That said, I understand why people may have concerns about these technologies, given the ability of advertisers to target our movements via social media and apps. Rest assured, we value and protect the privacy of everyone who uses the app.
The NZ Covid Tracer app was deliberately designed to be both private and safe. All details about where you’ve been remain on your phone, and no-one can see them unless you choose to share them as part of a contact tracing interview.
If you have been in the same place as someone who tests positive for Covid-19, you will get a notification on your phone asking you to get in touch with contact tracers.
The Ministry of Health doesn’t know whose phone displays an alert, and the person alerted doesn’t know who tested positive.
Bluetooth technology is used only by phones with the app to exchange ‘‘digital handshakes’’ to keep an anonymised record of their close contacts. This information is also held on your phone. The Bluetooth function doesn’t record where you have been.
For additional privacy, the QR code scan and manually entered diary data are automatically deleted after 60 days, and the Bluetooth data is automatically deleted after 14 days.
Importantly, the app is just one of the tools we have to help keep Covid-19 out. Our elimination strategy involves multiple steps – prepare for it, find it and stamp it out. We do this by tightly controlling our border, promoting good hand hygiene, testing, identifying and isolating cases, tracing and isolating close contacts, and strongly encouraging people to stay home and get tested if unwell.
It’s a new year, but it will be some time before Covid-19 is behind us. We’ve seen how quickly this virus can spread overseas, and we cannot let our guard down. Please look for and scan QR codes or record your movements.
Protect yourself, your friends and wha¯ nau, and do your bit for our team of five million.
‘‘Our elimination strategy involves multiple steps – prepare for it, find it and stamp it out.’’