11. Question No. 11—Prime MinisterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 11—Prime Minister11. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement regarding the NZ COVID Tracer App that We all want to avoid more restrictions. To stay at level 1 relies on all of us continuing to be vigilant and playing our part. Keep using the app"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): I stand by the full context of that quote from my post-Cabinet press conference from 5 October 2020 where I said "We all want to avoid more restrictions. Our public health systems are getting stronger all the time but to stay at level 1 relies on all of us continuing to be vigilant and playing our part. Wherever you are in New Zealand keep using the app. Scan in everywhere you go and remind the people you are with to do the same. If you are even slightly unwell stay home ring Healthline and get a test. Avoiding another outbreak depends on each and every one of us and we all have a role to play." The only thing I would add to that statement is that I would encourage those who don't perhaps have smartphones to have some other way of recording at all times the places that they go and different ways of recording are legitimate too.David Seymour: Were any of the close or casual contacts for the current community cases identified using the NZ COVID Tracer App and if not why not?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: My understanding of this case unlike the Northland case where we had really good use of the COVID Tracer App by the individual in question—in part I put that down to the extraordinary efforts that go in while people are at managed isolation and quarantine to encourage the use of the app. My understanding for these cases that we've been dealing with certainly those that we reported yesterday they did not use QR scanning. That does not stop of course the Ministry of Health from sending out notices in other forms to those who may visit different places. I would need to check what they did in that regard but I do know these cases did not scan.David Seymour: Point of order. The question was very narrow—whether or not any close or casual contacts for the current cases were identified using the app. I didn't hear if the Prime Minister addressed that question.SPEAKER: If the member had listened to the end of the question when the Prime Minister said that the person didn't scan it's very unlikely that anyone's going to be identified if the person with COVID hadn't scanned.David Seymour: Point of order. Mr Speaker for example it's possible that they could have located other people who were at locations they knew that the cases has visited at certain times so there are other possibilities that I was asking the Prime Minister about.SPEAKER: OK—Prime Minister.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm happy to clarify. To be exact again: they did not use QR scanning or Bluetooth. We always ask that question. With regard to what Health were able to do with those who may have been at the vicinity at that time forgive me Mr Speaker; I cannot specifically answer that question. That might be something the COVID Minister could. I would be happy to ask Health and report back to the member.David Seymour: Will the Government make it compulsory to scan in when visiting a premise that has QR codes and can the Prime Minister assure New Zealanders that scanning in does not mean the Government is tracing you; it only means that data about places you've visited is stored on your phone and you may voluntarily share it should you choose to and that if you happen to have a positive case it would be very wise to share that data and help save New Zealand another lockdown?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I absolutely agree with the member—it is the reinforcing of that message. I understand people's anxiety with the idea of information about where they've been being collected in an inappropriate way. You're absolutely right: people hold that information themselves. They have to give permission for it to be shared in the event they are found to have COVID-19. So we do need to keep reinforcing those messages and I'd appreciate every member's help with that. On the issue of compulsory use of scanning this issue that you've raised around people worrying about the role of Government we factor that into our thinking; but we have debated whether or not compulsory scanning should be used. One of the greater issues for us has been enforcement. We've been worried about for instance business owners feeling like they would have to be the ones to enforce customers scanning before they come in and there are lots of disincentives for that given it might hurt them commercially. So we've been trying to work through those issues and it's still a live discussion.David Seymour: So to be clear shall we take it that the Government currently can't say whether it will make it mandatory to scan in at businesses that have QR codes despite the current outbreak having potentially been spread and put New Zealand into lockdown for some time because people didn't scan?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I would firstly say that the issue of the cases we're dealing with having not scanned is not the reason that we went into lockdown. We went into lockdown because the person who had COVID we were not able to deduce swiftly and still haven't been able to deduce where exactly that infection took place. In fact the individuals in question have provided a relatively good recall of where they have been. But it does always help us of course. The second point: we've discussed as a Cabinet compulsion before and we have not adopted it. We are going to discuss it again but I don't want to pre-empt Cabinet's decision."