Testing for COVID-19

Information on lab testing and capacity and testing rates by ethnicity and DHB.

Last updated 1pm 25 February 2021.

All data on this page is as at 9:00 am on 25 February 2021 unless otherwise stated.

Change to the updating schedule for this page

Data on this page is now updated daily.

Data is collected from the EpiSurv database (administered by ESR) unless otherwise stated.

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Testing summary, status, and results

COVID-19 viral testing
People tested Test results delivered in past 24 hours Test results delivered during past week
People who travelled internationally 972 7581
People working at the border, in managed facilities, or near people travelling internationally 960 5521
Within New Zealand, not linked to the border 7271 40107
Other 66 488
Total 9269 53697
COVID-19 testing status
  Total
All COVID-19 viral tests administered* 1,683,551
Testing kits in stock (updated weekdays only) 244,234

* Covers the period from 22 January 2020 (first test in New Zealand) to 25 February 2021. Note that some people are tested more than once.

Testing results from 22 January 2020* to 25 February 2021
Test results In managed facilities Within NZ communities Total
Tested positive for COVID-19 821 1941 2762
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 197562 1482975 1680537
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 4 248 252
Total (all tests) 198387 1485164 1683551

* First test for COVID-19 in New Zealand was on 22 January 2020. Note that some people are tested more than once.

Number of tests for COVID-19
Daily number of tests completed for COVID-19 (with seven-day rolling average)

Testing over the past 4 weeks

Tests at managed facilities and within the community in district health boards (DHBs)
DHB of Patient Domicile 25 Jan to 31 Jan 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb
Managed isolation and quarantine facilities 7630 7249 7328 7240
Auckland 5212 3116 3008 7892
Bay of Plenty 1087 774 759 1843
Canterbury 2471 2091 1953 4125
Capital and Coast 1169 969 885 2570
Counties Manukau 5006 3333 3620 22174
Hawkes Bay 358 368 320 1029
Hutt Valley 389 309 252 915
Lakes 460 314 331 931
MidCentral 591 526 394 1161
Nelson Marlborough 457 451 362 841
Northland 4420 427 415 1140
South Canterbury 139 114 131 319
Southern 1100 775 877 2068
Tairāwhiti 141 119 130 351
Taranaki 412 280 218 1733
Waikato 1579 1019 1099 4083
Wairarapa 100 77 89 209
Waitematā 10356 3438 3132 8273
West Coast 60 36 29 64
Whanganui 113 109 73 430
Unknown 2129 1715 1648 2979
Total 45379 27609 27053 72370

Note: some people are tested more than once. We cannot give you detailed information about tests in your district, city or town, as we must protect the privacy of the people concerned.

Tests by ethnicity
Ethnicity 25 Jan to 31 Jan 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb
Maori 5678 2700 2841 10807
Pacific peoples 3533 2562 2797 11477
Asian 7221 4542 4304 12768
European/Other 23954 13290 12601 31322
Unknown 4993 4515 4510 5996
Total 45379 27609 27053 72370
Tests in managed isolation and quarantine
Test result 25 Jan to 31 Jan 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb
Tested positive for COVID-19 35 35 24 21
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 7595 7214 7304 7219
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 0 0 0 0
Tests within NZ communities
Test result 25 Jan to 31 Jan 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb
Tested positive for COVID-19 10 9 9 11
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 37735 20348 19716 65119
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 4 3 0 0
Total tests
Test result 25 Jan to 31 Jan 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb
Tested positive for COVID-19 45 44 33 32
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 45330 27562 27020 72338
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 4 3 0 0

Testing rate and results by location and ethnicity

All tests by DHB and in managed isolation and quarantine facilities from 22 January 2020 to 25 February 2021
Location Total tests Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Managed isolation and quarantine facilities 198387 0.41% NA
Auckland 208513 0.15% 372.01
Bay of Plenty 57749 0.08% 236.14
Canterbury 126175 0.12% 216.56
Capital and Coast 83218 0.16% 255.81
Counties Manukau 271179 0.09% 467.67
Hawkes Bay 33303 0.14% 198.36
Hutt Valley 30677 0.08% 202.04
Lakes 30626 0.04% 274.27
MidCentral 37633 0.1% 206.09
Nelson Marlborough 30003 0.11% 196.11
Northland 41378 0.08% 224.94
South Canterbury 10578 0.21% 175.84
Southern 69493 0.39% 206.13
Tairāwhiti 11858 0.03% 239.91
Taranaki 24728 0.05% 203.19
Waikato 103686 0.19% 241.65
Wairarapa 8717 0.05% 189
Waitematā 233118 0.13% 361.45
West Coast 3154 0.16% 98.75
Whanganui 11889 0.03% 182.75
Unknown 57489 0.09% NA
Total 1683551 0.16% 283.87
Tests by ethnicity from 22 January 2020 to 25 February 2021
Ethnicity* Total test Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Māori 237906 0.09% 300.64
Pacific peoples 193680 0.11% 595.22
Asian 235794 0.18% 293.91
European/Other 892405 0.19% 286.92
Unknown 123766 0.2% NA
Total 1683551 0.16% 310.14

* The prioritised ethnicity classification system is used in this table and below. This means each person is allocated to a single ethnic group, based on the ethnic groups they identify with. Where people identify with more than one group, they are assigned in this order of priority: Māori, Pacific Peoples, Asian, and European/Other. So, if a person identifies as being Māori and New Zealand European, the person is counted as Māori. See Ngā tapuae me ngā raraunga: Methods and data sources for further information.

The data categorized by ethnicity come from National Health Index (NHI) data collection, linked to data held in the EpiSurv database.

Testing rates per 1000 people by location and ethnicity from 22 January 2020 to 25 February 2021
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 410.74 554.6 258.94 407.01
Bay of Plenty 258.27 433.63 160.08 231.4
Canterbury 212.36 284.15 196.62 215.82
Capital and Coast 256.24 304.51 170.57 268.21
Counties Manukau 466.01 777.98 358.66 364.85
Hawke's Bay 204.48 340.35 129.66 192.4
Hutt Valley 198.19 252.77 165.7 203.26
Lakes 296.91 424.86 220.09 259.28
MidCentral 199.8 264.87 128.91 212.83
Nelson Marlborough 208.64 348.56 139.49 193.71
Northland 252.1 247.59 162.82 212.67
South Canterbury 176.82 495.85 169.09 172.33
Southern 190.4 303.96 152.44 209.93
Tairāwhiti 259.73 304.31 229.73 213.57
Taranaki 202.55 289.98 192.52 201.22
Waikato 271.24 332.47 199.83 228.27
Wairarapa 199.86 321.13 195.98 181.72
Waitematā 378.56 541.4 287.1 364.19
West Coast 91.72 200.53 131.37 97.09
Whanganui 180.75 239.14 131.45 184.24
Total 283.04 559.83 252.51 260.97

Note: some people are tested more than once. We cannot give you detailed information about tests in your district, city or town, as we must protect the privacy of the people concerned.

Percentage of tests returning a positive result by DHB and ethnicity from 22 January to 25 February 2021
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 0.07 0.19 0.13 0.15
Bay of Plenty 0.04 0 0.15 0.1
Canterbury 0.06 0.19 0.1 0.12
Capital and Coast 0.04 0 0.11 0.2
Counties Manukau 0.02 0.07 0.1 0.12
Hawke's Bay 0.03 0.18 0.24 0.17
Hutt Valley 0.13 0 0 0.09
Lakes 0.03 0 0.04 0.05
MidCentral 0.05 0 0 0.12
Nelson Marlborough 0.12 0 0 0.12
Northland 0.06 0.1 0 0.1
South Canterbury 0.1 0 0.7 0.2
Southern 0.4 0.14 0.14 0.42
Tairāwhiti 0.02 0 0 0.06
Taranaki 0 0 0.08 0.06
Waikato 0.09 0.04 0.26 0.24
Wairarapa 0.06 0 0 0.05
Waitematā 0.21 0.23 0.09 0.12
West Coast 0 0 0 0.19
Whanganui 0 0 0.48 0.03
Total 0.09 0.11 0.18 0.19

Note: we cannot give the total number of people testing positive per DHB and ethnicity for privacy reasons.


Testing rate and results by age and sex

Tests by age group from 22 January to 25 February 2021
Age group Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
0 to 9 143534 0.09% 227.45
10 to 19 153072 0.13% 238.81
20 to 29 313964 0.2% 420.35
30 to 39 304869 0.18% 447.04
40 to 49 244593 0.16% 401.73
50 to 59 238990 0.16% 376.66
60 to 69 171021 0.16% 319.77
70 to 79 77748 0.14% 213.86
80+ 35759 0.16% 191.55
Unknown 1 0% NA
Total 1683551 0.16% 334.75
Tests by sex from 22 January to 25 February 2021
Sex Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Female 853269 0.16% 335.37
Male 719826 0.19% 289.66
Unknown 110456 0.08% NA
Total 1683551 0.16% 312.78

New Zealand's approach to COVID-19 testing

New Zealand has a goal of eliminating COVID-19. Planned, targeted testing is one of the tools that can help meet this goal. We don't test without planning.

COVID-19 is a new disease, so we had to build a completely new testing capability.

Related information

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