COVID-19 testing

PCR Labs set up

Dr Daoni said currently the country is using AgRDT rapid tests and GeneXpert’s for diagnosis of the disease which are available in all the designated sites in the provinces.  Further PCR tests are done to determine the VoC, outside of the country.

NAC Take Measures To Safeguard Staff

The Government Agency made the decision encouraging more than 700 employees to know their status and make informed decisions regarding treatment as well as the vaccination.

 “As front line workers, it’s very important that our employees protect themselves, their co-workers and families and the travelling public,” said NAC Acting MD and CEO, Rex Kiponge.

Auckland councillor Efeso Collins calls for amnesty for people with expired visas

 

Health Minister Chris Hipkins said the government would not use any information collected through testing for immigration purposes.

"Regardless of your personal circumstances, if you're asked to get a test or you're in that group that's at greater risk, we won't use that information to punish you in some other way - and I can't state that enough," Hipkins said.

However Collins, who represents Manukau ward, said Pacific people remained fearful of getting tested because of what had happened historically to people who overstayed their visas, such as dawn raids.

WHO chief calls for tenfold increase in funding for COVID-19 treatments

"The coming three months present a crucial window of opportunity to scale out the impact of the ACT [Access to COVID-19 Tools] accelerator for global impact," Dr Tedros said on Monday.

"However to exploit this window, we have to fundamentally scale up the way we are funding the ACT Accelerator and prioritise the use of new tools.

"There is a vast global gap between our ambition for the ACT accelerator, and the amount of funds that have been committed."

Waiting game as Pacific lags on Covid19 testing

Although only a handful of New Zealand's Pacific neighbours were able to do such testing there were plans to change that.

Anyone who's had the Covid-19 test in New Zealand had their results back within a day or two.

For Pacific neighbours, including the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, that wait for results can take a week or more.

Covid-19 testing requires laboratory facilities which only exist in five Pacific locations, including Fiji and Papua New Guinea.