MAYOR CHANGES TUNE

Thames-Coromandel mayor Sandra Goudie has changed her tune on Covid-19 scanning.

After details of exposure sites in her district were announced, Goudie said she would not normally scan in when visiting locations and that it was ‘‘very hit-and-miss for me’’.

Goudie told RNZ’s Checkpoint programme on Tuesday that this most recent outbreak would ‘‘probably not’’ make her scan the tracing Covid-19 QR codes more often.

However, when spoken to by Stuff yesterday morning she admitted there was ‘‘no question’’ she would be improving her scanning, and the ‘‘probably not’’ comment was a throwaway line.

She said in the interview she had admitted to becoming complacent before this recent Covid-19 outbreak.

‘‘I said I was hit-and-miss, [that] was before this Covid thing has come along, I had become complacent like a lot of people.’’

Goudie said when asked about her scanning she answered honestly.

‘‘Now we have to hunker down and do the right thing, that means masks, two metres’ distance, do the contract tracing info, if it’s scanning or writing it down, there is still that option.’’

She said she had ‘‘never said I’m anti-scanning’’.

‘‘I was quite clear about the fact I had got complacent, I was honest, I let it slip.’’

However, she said as she had let her scanning slip, she still could trace her movements through her credit card and eftpos and diary if she had to.

‘‘I have never said I don’t believe in scanning.

‘‘People have been complacent, we now need to hunker down and do the right thing.’’

In a council statement released late yesterday, Goudie said when news of the outbreak came through she had been off the grid and was too relaxed about her own complacency with scanning.

‘‘I was upfront that my app use has been hit-and-miss, but there’s no question I’ll be using it now.

‘‘The Covid tracer app is a vital part of staying safe. I am urging anyone who must leave their home to scan in at every location.

‘‘This is all part of hunkering down and doing all the right things. No question,’’ she said.

‘‘Additional pop-up testing sites are now in operation in Coromandel Town and Thames.

‘‘We will do everything we can to keep our communities safe.’’