When people were tested for Covid-19, Bloomfield said, their National Health Index (NHI) number wasn't collected. For the first few months of the pandemic, Public Health Units (PHUs) which did contact tracing had no way of cross-referencing their work with that of other PHUs. The other tech problem the Ministry of Health has faced is more systemic – their database is severely outdated. The two-month wait for a contact tracing app meant that a plethora of QR-based private sector apps had emerged by the time NZ COVID Tracer debuted. Recent de-emphasising of the app – and contact tracing more generally - has meant the average user has scanned less than two QR codes in the past month.

Source: Stuff June 26, 2020 00:22 UTC