Sign In / Register
A decision to introduce mandatory scanning for businesses and large gatherings will sound the death knell for events such as the annual Kowhai Festival in Warkworth unless the Government can be flexible, a festival organiser says. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says those responsible for certain businesses and events will need to ensure people keep a record when they visit, either by scanning QR codes with the Covid-19 Tracer app or making a manual record.
The new rule is designed to ensure that the Government can contact trace quickly in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.
It would apply to places where people gather consistently and in large numbers including cafes, restaurants, bars, casinos, concerts, gyms, nightclubs and libraries. Kowhai Festival organiser Murray Chapman says while he agrees with the rationale behind the new rule, he thinks the Government needs to allow some leeway for event organisers and businesses.
He says for unticketed events such as the Kowhai Festival Huge Day Out, which takes place on Warkworth streets, it is just not physically possible for organisers to ensure everyone scans in.
He thinks that as long as the organiser does everything possible with QR codes and manual registers scattered throughout the venue, that should be sufficient.
“If the Government insists you have to ensure there needs to be 100 per cent sign in then that will be the end of outdoor events that are not ticketed,” he says.
Mr Chapman says that would be a great shame, because when New Zealand emerged from the last Level 4 lockdown people were desperate to attend events and celebrate their new found freedom.
He says planning for this year’s Kowhai Festival, due to be celebrated in October, continues in the hope that New Zealand will be out of Level 4 by then.
Mr Chapman, who is also manager of the One Mahurangi Business Association, also worries about the burden that will fall on businesses if the Government takes a hard line.
“What happens when somebody turns up to a business who is an anti-vaxxer or just decides they are not going to scan in? I would hate to see businesses penalised for not enforcing it when it is beyond their control,” he says.
“At the end of the day, all the business can do is refuse to provide service, which in itself penalises the business,” he says.
The Government is currently developing guidance to support businesses to comply with the new requirements.
Minister Hipkins says he understands the new rule adds an extra responsibility for businesses and hosts.
“But it is necessary to help New Zealand maintain its Covid-19 elimination strategy and help us return to the freedoms we have enjoyed for the past year, which so many countries have not,” he says.
The new rule comes into effect seven days after any change in alert level settings that allows more businesses to open or gatherings to go ahead.
