3 minute read
Test and Trace QR codes
COVID-19
Car dealers encouraged to set up Test and Trace QR codes for customers to use in the fight against coronavirus
All businesses – including car dealerships – that are open to the public should display a government-generated QR code to enable customers to test and trace.
There has been strange advice from some trade bodies that suggested this wasn’t mandatory – however, even though it’s optional, with the process taking just seconds to do and directly helping fight the virus, car dealers would be silly not to do it.
With the launch of the NHS Test and Trace app rolled out for iPhone and Android users last month, any business that is open to the public is being encouraged to display a QR code so customers can ‘check in’.
The government advice states: ‘You should create and display a QR code if you are a business, place of worship or community organisation with a physical location that is open to the public… or an event which is taking place in a physical location.’
Car dealerships with more than one location should generate a code for each one of their dealerships to help with the battle against the pandemic.
The government website adds: ‘If you have more than one venue, you need to create a separate QR code for each location. You can add multiple locations in the service.’
There was confusion at first that only food and drink venues needed to create a QR code. However, the government advice clearly states that all businesses should do so. Although not mandatory, there’s little reason why car dealers wouldn’t want to be involved.
Joel Combes, director of motor trade legal experts Lawgistics, said: ‘We would advise car dealers and garages to create a QR code and encourage customers to check in when they enter the premises to comply with the rules.’
Banks were warning business customers that they must set up a QR code from September 24 to comply with the rules.
Barclays told its customers: ‘From today, 24 September, if your business has a physical location that is open to the public, you’ll need to display an NHS QR code at the entrance.
‘This is to support the government with its track [sic] & trace scheme.’
The QR codes can be generated online on the government website here.
The app has been rolled out as the UK recorded the highest single-day figure of coronavirus cases since the outbreak began.
As of 9am on Thursday, September 24, there had been a further 6,634 lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the four nations, taking the overall number of cases confirmed to 416,363.
The Test & Trace app is available on iOS and Android operating systems, but it won’t work on older handsets.
On the iPhone, you will need to be running iOS 13.5, meaning the oldest possible iPhone device you can use it on is 2015’s iPhone 6s.
On Android, Marshmallow 6.0 – released in 2015 – and higher is required.
NHS Test and Trace says this is because the app needs something called Exposure Notification, which Apple and Google developed together for it to work.
Those unable to access the app are urged to continue using traditional contact tracing services instead.
To set up the QR code, businesses will need:
• Business email address. • The address of each location of the business. • An email address of the manager of each site. • A phone number of the manager of each site.
