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Testing for COVID-19

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

Last updated 1pm 28 February 2021.

All data on this page is as at 9:00 am on 28 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.

On this page:

See also:

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 990 7075
People working at the border, in managed facilities, or near people travelling internationally 767 5326
Within New Zealand, not linked to the border 4216 36149
Other 42 391
Total 6015 48941
COVID-19 testing status
  Total
All COVID-19 viral tests administered* 1,707,380
Testing kits in stock (updated weekdays only) 234,108

* Covers the period from 22 January 2020 (first test in New Zealand) to 28 February 2021. Note that some people are tested more than once.

Testing results from 22 January 2020* to 28 February 2021
Test results In managed facilities Within NZ communities Total
Tested positive for COVID-19 826 1947 2773
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 200506 1503848 1704354
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 4 249 253
Total (all tests) 201336 1506044 1707380

* 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 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb 22 Feb to 28 Feb
Managed isolation and quarantine facilities 7249 7328 7240 6304
Auckland 3056 2961 7792 5146
Bay of Plenty 765 753 1831 1112
Canterbury 2082 1947 4112 2653
Capital and Coast 969 883 2555 1581
Counties Manukau 3295 3578 22017 13481
Hawkes Bay 365 317 1022 511
Hutt Valley 308 251 908 554
Lakes 311 327 924 490
MidCentral 525 392 1167 506
Nelson Marlborough 449 359 835 530
Northland 424 415 1137 598
South Canterbury 114 130 316 168
Southern 768 865 2055 1397
Tairāwhiti 119 125 349 225
Taranaki 278 216 1725 472
Waikato 1002 1077 4048 1950
Wairarapa 77 88 209 134
Waitematā 3413 3089 8223 4437
West Coast 36 28 64 54
Whanganui 108 73 441 151
Unknown 1896 1851 3400 2603
Total 27609 27053 72370 45057

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 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb 22 Feb to 28 Feb
Maori 2686 2830 10779 5300
Pacific peoples 2502 2758 11387 6015
Asian 4430 4183 12548 8950
European/Other 13216 12519 31179 19483
Unknown 4775 4763 6477 5309
Total 27609 27053 72370 45057
Tests in managed isolation and quarantine
Test result 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb 22 Feb to 28 Feb
Tested positive for COVID-19 35 24 21 24
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 7214 7304 7219 6280
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 0 0 0 0
Tests within NZ communities
Test result 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb 22 Feb to 28 Feb
Tested positive for COVID-19 9 9 11 11
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 20348 19716 65119 38740
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 3 0 0 2
Total tests
Test result 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb 15 Feb to 21 Feb 22 Feb to 28 Feb
Tested positive for COVID-19 44 33 32 35
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 27562 27020 72338 45020
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 3 0 0 2

Testing rate and results by location and ethnicity

All tests by DHB and in managed isolation and quarantine facilities from 22 January 2020 to 28 February 2021
Location Total tests Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Managed isolation and quarantine facilities 201336 0.41% NA
Auckland 208401 0.15% 371.82
Bay of Plenty 57647 0.08% 235.72
Canterbury 126882 0.12% 217.78
Capital and Coast 83443 0.16% 256.5
Counties Manukau 276752 0.08% 477.29
Hawkes Bay 33053 0.14% 196.87
Hutt Valley 30804 0.08% 202.88
Lakes 30670 0.04% 274.67
MidCentral 37778 0.1% 206.88
Nelson Marlborough 30017 0.11% 196.2
Northland 41516 0.08% 225.69
South Canterbury 10543 0.21% 175.26
Southern 69253 0.39% 205.42
Tairāwhiti 11943 0.03% 241.63
Taranaki 24726 0.05% 203.18
Waikato 103897 0.19% 242.14
Wairarapa 8767 0.05% 190.08
Waitematā 233511 0.13% 362.06
West Coast 3133 0.16% 98.09
Whanganui 11898 0.03% 182.89
Unknown 71410 0.07% NA
Total 1707380 0.16% 285.25
Tests by ethnicity from 22 January 2020 to 28 February 2021
Ethnicity* Total test Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Māori 240076 0.09% 303.38
Pacific peoples 194387 0.11% 597.39
Asian 235734 0.18% 293.84
European/Other 897366 0.19% 288.51
Unknown 139817 0.18% NA
Total 1707380 0.16% 311.69

* 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 28 February 2021
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 415.93 557.94 255.36 407.61
Bay of Plenty 260.1 370.91 155.34 232.51
Canterbury 214.2 285.39 193.81 217.45
Capital and Coast 258.37 306.26 168.66 269.2
Counties Manukau 474.25 787.08 369.59 374.25
Hawke's Bay 204.94 296.18 127.5 192.81
Hutt Valley 199.4 254.21 164.26 204.37
Lakes 298.02 421.31 213.9 260.54
MidCentral 201.17 265.93 126.39 213.85
Nelson Marlborough 210.29 328.89 135.93 194.27
Northland 253.96 247.08 159.53 213.19
South Canterbury 177 455.86 159.26 172.58
Southern 192.77 303.53 145.34 209.84
Tairāwhiti 262.57 298.98 224.01 214.79
Taranaki 203.35 290.68 178.51 202.03
Waikato 273.04 334.3 195.03 229.06
Wairarapa 201.21 322.31 192.21 182.9
Waitematā 380.77 542.98 284.76 365.6
West Coast 91.97 156.42 116.89 97.13
Whanganui 181.44 221.88 128.63 184.97
Total 285.65 562.21 251.89 262.46

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 28 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 0.11 0.12
Hawke's Bay 0.03 0.21 0.24 0.17
Hutt Valley 0.13 0 0 0.09
Lakes 0.03 0 0.05 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 0.74 0.2
Southern 0.39 0.14 0.15 0.42
Tairāwhiti 0.02 0 0 0.06
Taranaki 0 0 0.09 0.06
Waikato 0.09 0.04 0.27 0.24
Wairarapa 0.06 0 0 0.05
Waitematā 0.21 0.23 0.1 0.12
West Coast 0 0 0 0.19
Whanganui 0 0 0.49 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 28 February 2021
Age group Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
0 to 9 145659 0.1% 230.82
10 to 19 156566 0.13% 244.26
20 to 29 318794 0.2% 426.82
30 to 39 309475 0.18% 453.79
40 to 49 248001 0.16% 407.33
50 to 59 241758 0.16% 381.02
60 to 69 172780 0.16% 323.06
70 to 79 78367 0.14% 215.56
80+ 35980 0.16% 192.73
Unknown NA NA% NA
Total 1707380 0.16% 339.49
Tests by sex from 22 January to 28 February 2021
Sex Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Female 858640 0.16% 337.48
Male 722642 0.18% 290.8
Unknown 126098 0.07% NA
Total 1707380 0.16% 314.41

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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