COVID-19 Testing In Metro Auckland

Wednesday 18 August was a record day for testing in Auckland with more than 16,000 people tested. This includes more than 6,000 people swabbed at community testing centres (CTCs) and more than 10,000 taken collectively by general practices, urgent care clinics and mobile testing units.

Yesterday was also the biggest testing day on record for primary care in Auckland and we would like to thank them for stepping up once again and making a huge contribution to our testing response.

Demand remains high today, and as at 4pm, more than 4,400 people have been swabbed at community testing centres across Auckland.

All 11 CTCs in Auckland are reporting wait times. Traffic management and Police at several CTCs are now closing off queues to ensure our testing teams have time to test everyone already waiting before they close at 8pm.

Auckland health authorities are urging anyone wanting to get a test today to please call your GP, a designated practice or urgent care clinic to see if they have availability. For up-to-date info on all testing locations, visit www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/.

Please only get a test if you have been identified as a close contact, were at a location of interest at the time pinpointed on the Ministry of Health website or have symptoms.

If you are unable to get a test today, please go home and try again tomorrow.

New pop-up CTC opens in East Auckland

Yesterday morning, four new pop-up CTCs opened in North and Central Auckland giving the city more testing capacity and relieving some of the pressure on the existing six CTCs and our general practices.

A fifth pop-up opened in East Auckland at Lloyd Elsmore in Pakuranga this afternoon and we have continued to boost capacity at our other CTCs. At our Otara and Wiri CTCs, we have doubled the number of lanes open to people getting tested in their car.

Another pop-up CTC will open at Auckland Netball Centre in St Johns at 9am tomorrow.

Labs in Auckland are coping well and the current turnaround time for test results is 48 hours.

Please be kind to testing staff

Yesterday, some of our staff experienced verbal abuse from people who had been waiting to get a test. We understand people are anxious and that waiting can be hard but we want to remind people to please be kind. Our staff are working as hard and as fast as they can, and we are all in this together.

People visiting a CTC can help speed up the paperwork that is part of the process by bringing ID (one for every person who is being tested) and having their NHI number (if they know it) ready to give to our staff.

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