As new highly-transmissible Covid-19 strains send countries into second and third lockdowns, Stuff is forging ahead with its Stop! Scanner time campaign to remind Kiwis of the importance to keep scanning QR codes, should there be a community outbreak.

Everyone – every single one of us – needs to be scanning the NZ Covid Tracer app, or signing in on a sheet of paper, every single time.

Our campaign comes as the number of daily scans on the app is down to a fifth of its peak as complacency sets in over the virus. Numbers are starting to climb again after the holiday period, but officials are still concerned about the lack of uptake.

Stuff watched as 130 New World Metro shoppers walked into the Willis St, Wellington, store on Sunday afternoon. Just 10 of them made use of the scanner app or signed in, in the space of half an hour.

While the kiwi bird is often stereotyped as a bit helpless, Stuff cartoonist Sharon Murdoch has illustrated why we should never judge a book by its cover. The kiwi, realising it has got the code, is fending off the coronavirus with its QR code. Let’s all be good Kiwis together.

Kia ora Aotearoa. We've done so well with keeping Covid-19 out of New Zealand. But with the new, highly-transmissible variants arriving at our border, we should be preparing for the possibility of community transmission. So let’s all start scanning again and keep everyone safe.

-- From Stuff