News emerged this week New Zealand has been ranked in first place out of nearly 100 countries for its response to COVID-19. 

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says there is "never any room for complacency or for boasting" after New Zealand's handling of the pandemic was ranked number one against 97 other countries, according to research by Australian thinktank, The Lowy Institute.

"As recent events have shown, there's never any room for complacency or for boasting. We've got to remain vigilant, we've got to respond quickly when we need to," Hipkins said.

Now, more than ever, the Government COVID Tracer App is vitally important as we defend our position against an evolving virus. 

New strains are increasingly difficult to contain as they spread easier, as evidenced by recent community cases in Northland and Auckland.  

As of this week, the NZ COVID Tracer now has over 2.5 million registered users with the total number of poster scans is now over 162 million.

Users have created over 6.6 milion manual diary entries. 

But half of New Zealand still doesn’t use the app, and I worry communities such as ours, which feels a world away, could be guilty of complacency. 

This week, Australia extended its ban on quarantine-free travel from New Zealand due to the Covid cases from returnees at the Pullman Hotel.

Australia’s acting chief medical officer, professor Michael Kidd, says a major factor behind the decision was that the cases were the South African variant.

The COVID Tracer App is a valuable tool in contact tracing if a community outbreak takes place. 

The Lowy Institute report also found countries with populations of fewer than 10 million people consistently outperformed larger countries throughout 2020 in responding to COVID-19.

"In general, countries with smaller populations, cohesive societies, and capable institutions have a comparative advantage in dealing with a global crisis such as a pandemic," the report stated.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the app is an invaluable tool to use against the spread of COVID-19 and enables health authorities to trace links in transmission, if they take place.  

"We’re currently seeing a healthy increase every day in scanning,” Ashley says. “Your efforts to scan in are helping New Zealand’s response to COVID-19.

“It’s incredibly important that people keep a record of where they’ve been. 

“It can help support contact tracers in tracing potential close and casual contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. 

"We recommend people continue to scan NZ COVID Tracer app. The more we all scan, the safer we’ll all be. The data is stored on your phone until you choose to share it.

"The use of the app – through QR code scanning, recording manual diary entries, and Bluetooth – is just one of the tools available to support contact tracing.

“It’s not the only one. It’s important the COVID Tracer app is viewed in the wider context of New Zealand’s elimination strategy.”

To download the COVID Tracer App, click here. 

To enable bluetooth, download the app, open it, click “Dashboard” at the bottom left corner, and click the second box at the top - which has the words “Bluetooth Tracing is on/off”. 

Click, scroll down, and click to ensure it is “on”. 

Photos courtesy Ministry of Health.

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