Rita Panahi: QR code fail should be a wake-up call for state government

Victoria’s latest contact tracing fail has highlighted the inadequacies of the state’s QR code system in yet another example of a shambolic Covid response.

Last Wednesday morning I found myself at Sydney’s Star Casino — before you judge me too harshly, consider the fact there were no other options for a tropical cocktail at 2am.

But before I was granted entry into the dowdy establishment the security guards demanded I check in with the official NSW COVID-safe QR code. This demand wasn’t a mere suggestion, the guard checked to see I had completed the task before allowing me to enter.

Later that morning when I tried to take advantage of the InterContinental’s buffet breakfast I was again stopped and asked to check in with the QR-code. Even though I was staying at the Double Bay establishment, they still require each person entering the dining area to check in every, single time. Again, not a suggestion but a non-negotiable requirement that was politely checked before entry.

That is the norm, not the exception in NSW, and it’s part of the reason why that state has managed outbreaks without inflicting state or citywide lockdowns on their citizens.

There is one QR-code system in NSW, it’s been in place since September, and it works a treat.

In Victoria thousands of businesses have introduced their own QR code systems with varying levels of success.

Now compare the NSW experience with Victoria’s shambolic COVID response, from the catastrophic failures of hotel quarantine to inadequate contact tracing procedures to the haphazard QR code system.

The inadequacies of that latest failure were highlighted again this week when it emerged many of the patrons of establishments visited by a COVID-positive case had not bothered to check in.

“Frankly the QR code, whilst it was in place, wasn’t widely taken up by all the patrons,” Health Minister Martin Foley said. “This is a wake-up call to both operators and patrons to step up and use the services.”

You’d hope it would be a wake-up call to the sleep-at-the-wheel state government. No one could accuse the Andrews government of being quick learners.

Some 15 months into the pandemic and Victoria still has not enforced a uniform, widely used QR code to enable efficient contact tracing.

In Victoria thousands of businesses have introduced their own QR code systems with varying levels of success, while the adoption of a uniform QR code will only become mandatory on May 28.

As we have seen throughout this pandemic the Victorian government is great at apportioning blame, but not so good at following best practice to keep the community safe and businesses open.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist

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