Covid 19 coronavirus: Are Kiwis still scanning enough?

A data expert says it's reassuring Auckland's change to level 2 hasn't come with the same big drop-off in QR code scan rates seen after previous Covid-19 outbreaks. Photo / Dean Purcell

A data expert says it's reassuring Auckland's change to level 2 hasn't come with the same sharp drop-off in QR code scan rates seen after previous Covid-19 outbreaks.

The latest NZ Covid Tracer app data, logging national daily scan numbers up to 1pm yesterday, showed totals had fallen slightly from 1,540,671, over Sunday to Monday, to 1,469,320 between Tuesday and Wednesday.

The last time alert levels moved down - when Auckland moved to alert level 2 on February 17, and the rest of New Zealand to alert level 1 - scan rates dropped from 1.76 million to 1.35 million within a few days.

"On one hand, I'm reassured that it's not dropping significantly this time," said Dr Andrew Chen, a research fellow with Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland.

"What I'd expect to see is that, as we get to the weekend, there'll be less activity, and then that will hold across into the next week.

"So, we'll need to see another week of data before we can be confident that this level is holding."

Chen said he would've rather seen a post-lockdown uptick.

"As alert levels dropped, there would've been increased mobility in Auckland - but that hasn't led to an increase in scan counts," he said.

"This is a trend that we've seen in the past with other level changes, but it still may be perhaps a worrying sign that, with people moving around more, we're not seeing more of an increase."

The Ministry of Health's figures could also suggest that, outside Auckland, fewer people were scanning amid a return to level 1.

"Without seeing some geographic breakdowns, that's hard to know. But the good news is we haven't seen a dramatic drop-off."

Chen has earlier suggested a good level of participation would be 60 to 80 per cent of eligible adult app users, with four to six million QR scans each day, and around two million people using Bluetooth tracing.

As at today, the app had 2,745,999 registered users. As at Wednesday, about 1.2 million people had activated the Bluetooth function.

The app remained one of New Zealand's most crucial tools in fighting Covid-19, with modelling showing the time it took for officials to track down and isolate contacts was the biggest factor in keeping an outbreak under control.

Last month, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the Government was constantly looking at ways to encourage uptake.

Otago University researchers have previously suggested that businesses could get more people scanning if they fostered trust and buy-in with customers, rather than threatening not to serve them if they didn't sign in.

Some businesses have come up with their own incentives, including an Auckland steakhouse that was offering a small discount, and a Nelson cafe that was rewarding app users with free biscuits.