More trials set for CovidCard

‘‘Bluetooth proximity detection’’ could be included in next month’s NZ Covid Tracer app update, as the Ministry of Health concedes the proposed CovidCard ‘‘has the potential to help contact tracing go faster’’.

The initial trial of the CovidCard found it can work under controlled conditions but a ministry spokesperson said a further trial was needed to investigate how it could work in a real-world scenario. That trial is now being designed and will look to determine if the cards are compatible with the ministry’s contact tracing systems, and ‘‘whether the public would accept and use them’’, a spokeswoman explained.

CovidCards use Bluetooth technology to help with efficient mass contact tracing, and would remove the need for a person to carry a smartphone and sign in to locations using the Covid Tracer app.

CovidCards work by exchanging Bluetooth signals, providing a record of who people have been in close contact with and for how long.

Meanwhile, contact tracing teams have finally begun embracing the exposure notification function on the app, sending 18 alerts to date – up from the single notification sent a month ago.

Exposure notifications are sent to app users to let them know they have been at a location at the same time as a person who has tested positive for the virus.

Four of these alerts were related to a recent positive Covid-19 result returned by a nurse at Auckland’s Jet Park hotel – the country’s only devoted quarantine facility.

The circumstances leading to the nurse contracting the virus was now the subject of a clinical review, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed on Wednesday.