The results of a survey regarding New Zealanders' attitudes to wearing masks and the use of the NZ Covid Tracer app suggest a worrying level of complacency, a researcher says.
Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
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The government is considering advice on mandatory mask wearing at alert level 2 and higher, as well as mandatory QR scanning in high-risk areas.
Research New Zealand has taken the pulse of the nation, measuring New Zealanders' attitudes towards the idea of wearing masks and scanning being compulsory.
The survey showed that most respondents either agree or strongly agree that Covid-19 scanning and masks should be compulsory on public transport.
But Research NZ managing partner Emanuel Kalafatelis said things do not look so good when only the responses of those who strongly agree with the statements are considered.
"Forty six percent said they strongly agree that at alert level 2 or above we should be wearing face masks on public transport - so what are the other half doing? They're either agreeing in a soft sort of way or they're disagreeing.
"Similarly with scanning only 42 percent strongly agreed that we should be doing that when we get on public transport and the rest gave us a soft response or disagreed with that."
Kalafatelis said the poll suggested that most New Zealanders are complacent about wearing masks and in terms of their scanning behaviour.
He said the poll also seemed to suggest that some of those who are wearing masks are not wearing them correctly.
Respondents were asked about masks with regard to the Health Ministry's guidelines which include washing your hands before putting on a mask and keeping them in a clean place, such as a clean plastic bag, between uses.
Kalafatelis said the survey found only a third of respondents said they always did this, which meant the others were not doing that.
"The fact that they're wearing face masks in this particular inappropriate way means that of course the face masks are having no effect whatsoever."