Complacency around scanning venues' QR codes has prompted a warning from Southern DHB - scan every time, or risk another lockdown.
The codes are visible at the entrance to all businesses and public venues, but the number of scans per day has dropped dramatically from their peak.
On top of the low scanning rate, only 22 per cent of users have enabled the bluetooth contact tracing feature.
Dr Nigel Miller, Southern DHB's Chief Medical Officer, said there's too much at stake if Covid cases at our borders leech into the community.
"If we don't get on top of it quick - and I mean really quick - with this new variant, one person will infect about half as many people more as previously, which might be just that extra edge which means the virus gets ahead and we can't get ahead of it," he said.
"We want people to scan as much as possible whenever you can."
The Minister of Health says the Government is reluctant to make scanning in compulsory, because of the pressure it could put on already-struggling businesses.
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