Criterion Street Cafe has ‘had enough’ of check-in dodgers

A cafe has vented its frustration at people ignoring the rules, saying if customers did not want to use the Check In Tas app they were not welcome in the store.

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TASMANIAN retailers are reporting very different attitudes from customers towards mandatory check-in rules, with some praising patrons for their attitudes and others telling those not willing to comply to stay away.

Around Tasmania, 28,000 venues have now adopted the QR code system and 11 million individual customer check-ins have been performed since the start of July.

“Checking in is a powerful tracking and tracing weapon,” State Growth Minister Roger Jaensch said.

“It is a case of when, not if, Covid-19 turns up in Tasmania again. We are trying to avoid the disruption of another lockdown.”

By the end of July, the range of premises required to use the Check In Tas app will include retail premises, such as supermarkets, shopping centres and big box outlets, as well as accommodation businesses, education settings and aged care facilities.

It is a constant struggle to monitor that customers are complying with covid safe regulations. We are doing our very...

Posted by Criterion Street Cafe on Thursday, July 15, 2021

A Hobart cafe on Sunday vented its frustration at people ignoring the rules saying if customers did not want to use the app they were not welcome in the store.

“It is a constant struggle to monitor that customers are complying with Covid-safe regulations,” the Criterion Street Cafe said in a social media post.

“We are doing our very best. Thank you to those that adapt, listen, and are accommodating to our requests. To those that argue, disagree, and don’t comply… we have had enough.

“We are trying to keep everyone safe. It is exhausting having conversations about human privacy rights, and constant refusal to check in. If you don’t want to check in, don’t come to our cafe.”

Bear With Me staff member Jye McDonald. The cafe is reporting its customers are complying with the mandatory check-in regulations. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Elisha Liu, from Bear with Me cafe, said her business had stared using the check-in system before it was mandatory and compliance among customers was now high.

“In the first month or so, some dug their heels in and questioned the whole process. But we seem to have moved past that strong reaction stage now,” she said.

Hill St director Steve Longmore checks into the Devonport store.

At Hill St grocer in Devonport, director Steve Longmore said customers had been compliant and taken the stricter check-in requirements in their stride.

“Our customers are absolutely doing it,” Mr Longmore said as people streamed into the business.

“They understand it is all about tracing. We have numerous check-in places so people can keep their distance and we have been amazed at the positive response.”

Surveys reveal poor use of check-in app

LITTLE more than two in every five Tasmanians are voluntarily using a key app designed to track people’s movements in public and minimise the risk of a large-scale Covid outbreak and lockdowns, according to a Mercury field survey of hundreds of shoppers.

Three Mercury reporters made observations of the use of the Check in TAS app during snapshots of 20 minutes each at the entrances of five high-traffic retail locations across greater Hobart on Saturday.

There were 444 people observed during those times, and just 41 per cent checked in using the app at entrances not manned by staff but where a check-in QR code was clearly displayed.

It comes a day after Public Health authorities urged all Tasmanians to prepare a household Covid safety kit, including the routine usage of the app, which is considered a critical contact tracing tool in the event the state records a new virus case.

A woman uses the Check In Tas app at the entrance to Salamanca Market on Saturday. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

At one of the entrances to Eastlands Shopping Centre, where a lectern was conspicuously placed with a QR code prompting shoppers to check-in, less than one in four did so.

Of the 66 people observed during a 20-minute period from 10.05am-10.25am, 50 of them did not stop to check themselves in on their mobile phone.

At Salamanca Fresh’s Salamanca Place store, 40 people entered during a 20-minute period about an hour later, with 15 of them checking in and 25 failing to do so despite multiple QR codes being displayed at the entrance.

At one of the entrances to Hobart’s Myer store, 132 people entered during the 20-minute snapshot, with 54 of them checking in and 78 failing to do so.

Use among shoppers entering Coles at Glenorchy was mixed, with 53 people checking in and 54 electing to walk past the QR code.

At the city’s Bunnings store nearby, a high level of compliance was observed due to the presence of a staff member greeting customers as they entered.

In similar circumstances at the Salamanca Market, several staff members at each of the entrances to the market ensured attendees checked in before entering.

Meanwhile, at the Woolworths supermarket at Channel Court, Kingston, in the afternoon, app use was mixed, with 47 people checking in and 52 failing to do so in a 20-minute period.

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Michael Bailey said he had heard customers had broadly been compliant, and was surprised to hear the survey results.

“Clearly that isn’t good enough and I would hope that those customers would have been captured within the store,” he said.

Mr Bailey said it was not only up to individuals and business owners and shop assistants needed to remind people to use the check-in app.

“It’s important it’s a whole community effort,” he said.

People wearing masks at Salamanca Market on Saturday. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

On Friday, Public Health acting director Scott McKeown said use of the app was now mandatory in many locations, including retail premises such as supermarkets and big box outlets.

Dr McKeown said it was especially important for travellers who have arrived into Tasmania from Covid-affected Victoria since July 8.

Premises have until July 31 to be registered for a check-in QR code.

More than 28,000 Tasmanian premises are now registered with the app, with authorities registering an average of 450 new venues every day.

On Thursday, there were 435,303 check-ins recorded across the state, with a total of 10.8 million since the app was introduced.

More than 10 million check-ins have been recorded by the Check-in Tas app since its introduction. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Health department deputy secretary Dale Webster said people aged 16 years and older were required to check in and there was no longer a time limit of 15 minutes.

“The rapid response capability that comes with Check in TAS will help us preserve the social freedoms that we all enjoy, keeping local businesses open and keeping Tasmania open for business,” Mr Webster said.

“The current Covid situation in NSW and Victoria and other recent outbreaks have shown us how critical it is to remain vigilant and be rapidly ready to contact every case that’s identified.”

Premier Peter Gutwein said he had observed positive use of the app, including at a Bunnings store in Launceston.

“Venues are doing their best. By the end of the month obviously they will need to fully comply,” he said.

“What we’re seeing now in Victoria demonstrates just how serious a moment this is.”

SURVEY RESULTS

Coles Glenorchy

9.45am-10.05am

Yes - 53

No - 54

Eastlands Shopping Centre

10.05am-10.25am

Yes - 16

No - 50

Myer Hobart

11am-11.20am

Yes - 54

No - 78

Salamanca Fresh, Salamanca

11.10am-11.30am

Yes - 15

No - 25

Woolworths Channel Court, Kingston

2pm-2.20pm

Yes - 47

No - 52

TOTALS

Yes - 185, 41.7 per cent

No - 259, 58.3 per cent

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