Everybody needs to sign in every time
‘‘NO scan no service.’’
That’s the policy, according to media reports, of a barber in Wellington’s Cuba St, who requires customers to scan in with the QR code, or sign in if they haven’t a smartphone, before they’re served.
It’s a pity other businesses don’t adopt a similar attitude.
Despite regular exhortations from Covid Minister Chris Hipkins, and directorgeneral of health Ashley Bloomfield, the Health Ministry reports that daily scans had dropped to about 500,000 in mid January, from an earlier peak of over 2.5 million. Civis has noticed very few customers signing in, either by QR code or by signing a sheet, at the supermarket or any other shop or meeting place (except church).
On January 22, one of Civis’ household bought meals from a fastfood outlet in Dunedin (Friday is ‘‘Takeaway Day’’). A group of three young men entered a few seconds earlier, without, apparently, signing in by the QR code on the door, or that by the counter
(there seemed to be no paper signin available). While waiting for the orders to be filled he inquired casually of one of the men whether anyofthemhadsignedin,andwas told ‘‘no’’. A polite inquiry as to why not elicited the reply that it was unnecessary — ‘‘There’s no Covid in New Zealand’’.
There was no suggestion, as has emanated from a few selfdeluders, that Covid doesn’t exist, or is no more than ‘‘just a flu’’, as President Bolsonaro, of Brazil, proclaims. The young man just seemed honestly to believe that there was no risk, because there were no known community cases in the country. The response that there were many cases in quarantine in New Zealand (73 that day) caused mild surprise, and agreement about the risk of community transmission originating from staff of the managed isolation or quarantine hotels, but didn’t trigger any move to sign in.
Presumably the young man now knows that January 22 was the 10th day on which a woman with the Covid19 virus was touring southern Northland, visiting many retail and service sites, including at least 7 cafes or restaurants, after leaving managed isolation in Auckland, and two others who’ve since tested positive were north of Auckland. It’s to be hoped that he’s joined a few dots and realises that, if the woman and her husband had decided to go south rather than north, they might have stopped at the fastfood outlet he was patronising, conveniently situated as it is beside State Highway 1.
For some months, Civis has seen regular reminders on freetoair television about the need to sign in whenever visiting a shop or other service provider, and lamentations about low use of the app.
Do those who get their news solely from social media get the same reminders?
Scanning a QR code with New Zealand’s Covid Tracer app requires a smartphone newer than Android
6.0 or an iPhone with iOS 11, and many businesses are relying on this as the only method to record visits. But not everyone has a toosmartphone — Civis’ old Nokia, only replaced, recently, because the dog tried to use it, wouldn’t have supported the app.
A Health Ministry spokesperson said the app was one way of keeping track of where you have been, but those who couldn’t use the app could take photos or keep a diary. That’s naive. Is someone who can’t use the app likely to take a camera with them and photograph everywhere they’ve been?
It might work partially with tourists, who seem obsessed with taking ‘‘selfies’’ in front of various buildings or other tourist sites (but probably not at the local takeaway or supermarket), but with locals?
Let’s hope that the Northland and Auckland cases trigger a responsible attitude, like that of the Northland tourist, to using QR codes (and Bluetooth), that businesses ensure they have paper signin available too, and that everyone makes a point of signing in.
Every person, every time.