Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Local Focus: No complaints so far in Ngongotahā Covid card trial

Delilah Whaitiri
By Delilah Whaitiri
Video Journalist, Rotorua, NZH Local Focus ·NZ Herald·
16 Nov, 2020 11:43 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

"You're just pinging off other people". Made with funding from NZ On Air.

The small community of Ngongotahā has spent the past week trialling the brand new Covid contact tracing card, and so far, so good, with some saying it's much better than the Covid tracer app.

"I do feel the card is a much better solution because you don't need an email address," Ngongotahā resident Christina Harkness said.

"It can be for as many individuals, whoever participates, and it's just something that you wear. You don't even have to worry about it. It's just chuck it on and go about your normal day."

Following the trial, some wearers say they preferred the piece of hardware for its user-friendliness.

"Personally I prefer the card because you don't have to think about it as opposed to when you go into places you've got to remember," Ngongotahā resident Rachel Hansen said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Whereas this is just around your neck and you don't have to think about it."

Unlike the app, the card doesn't track a person's location but instead records the other cards the wearer comes into contact with.

"You're just pinging off other people," Hansen said. "It's not really tracking your whereabouts and so for me I don't even think about it."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Harkness said she's had no technical problems.

"Some people are struggling signing in certain places, whereas this doesn't. It will do its thing when it bumps into another card and then it's downloaded whenever."

Regarding privacy, Harkness said she isn't concerned.

"I think it's a really good thing to do and it makes me feel better because if I was to be infected, it's far easier to track my steps than try and rely on my memory."

Discover more

New Zealand

Local Focus: Covid card experiment underway in Ngongotahā

09 Nov 04:30 AM
Kahu

Local Focus: Land to be returned to Rotorua hapū

16 Nov 04:53 AM

Zizi Sparks: Time to make contact tracing a legal requirement

17 Nov 07:58 PM
New Zealand

Local Focus: 'We're trapped' - Rotorua Canopy Tours feels the strength of domestic tourism

24 Nov 07:30 PM

All personal data will be destroyed but the learnings from the trial will be used in designing the next steps for New Zealand and contact tracing.

Made with funding from

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Rotorua Daily Post

'Social dysfunction at its worst': Two people sentenced over Rotorua teen prostitution ring

04 Jul 01:08 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM

Peter was trapped under a tractor for hours on his Mangakino farm.

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

'Social dysfunction at its worst': Two people sentenced over Rotorua teen prostitution ring

'Social dysfunction at its worst': Two people sentenced over Rotorua teen prostitution ring

04 Jul 01:08 AM
'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

04 Jul 12:24 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP