COVID-19

Testing for COVID-19

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

Last updated 1pm 29 May 2023.

This data is updated weekly. All data on this page relates to tests recorded prior to 11:59 pm 28 May 2023.

Testing data is collected from the Eclair database (administered by ESR) unless otherwise stated.

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Testing summary, status, and results

COVID-19 testing
  Total
PCR tests uploaded during past week 8,079
All COVID-19 viral tests administered 7,889,716
Testing kits in stock 22,373
Testing results from 22 January 2020 to 29 May 2023
Test results In managed facilities Within NZ communities Total
Tested positive for COVID-19 3,838 220,658 224,496
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 236,832 7,375,582 7,612,414
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 190 52,616 52,806
Total (all tests) 240,860 7,648,856 7,889,716
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 health districts
Health district of residence 2 May to 7 May 9 May to 14 May 16 May to 21 May 23 May to 28 May
Auckland 854 722 854 819
Bay of Plenty 199 192 181 177
Canterbury/West Coast 765 687 755 963
Capital & Coast/Hutt 480 481 462 534
Counties Manukau 851 989 1,020 967
Hawkes Bay 111 100 122 121
Lakes 101 82 67 79
MidCentral 99 121 138 127
Nelson Marlborough 178 167 192 240
Northland 190 201 219 231
South Canterbury 28 22 29 36
Southern 1,069 1,001 986 1,095
Tairawhiti 13 19 21 42
Taranaki 481 328 392 385
Waikato 601 605 689 795
Wairarapa 66 49 60 54
Waitemata 1,207 1,227 1,283 1,308
Whanganui 26 15 23 32
Unknown 100 91 86 74
Total 7,419 7,099 7,579 8,079

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 2 May to 7 May 9 May to 14 May 16 May to 21 May 23 May to 28 May
Māori 1,292 1,244 1,318 1,552
Pacific Peoples 844 804 910 892
Asian 943 941 1,014 1,041
European or Other 4,257 4,023 4,252 4,529
Unknown 83 87 85 65
Total 7,419 7,099 7,579 8,079
Total tests
COVID-19 test result 2 May to 7 May 9 May to 14 May 16 May to 21 May 23 May to 28 May
Tested positive 785 741 761 768
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 6,617 6,307 6,785 7,284
Inconclusive result 17 51 33 27
Total 7,419 7,099 7,579 8,079

Testing rate and results by location and ethnicity

All tests by district and in managed isolation and quarantine facilities from 22 January 2020 to 29 May 2023
Location Total tests Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Managed isolation and quarantine facilities 240,860 1.59% NA
Auckland 1,163,455 2.78% 2,364.3
Bay of Plenty 281,298 2.60% 1,085.4
Canterbury/West Coast 597,476 3.69% 998.2
Capital & Coast/Hutt 493,993 2.94% 1,049.5
Counties Manukau 1,504,169 3.29% 2,538.9
Hawkes Bay 137,681 2.31% 789.0
Lakes 126,832 1.88% 1,108.4
MidCentral 134,407 2.80% 739.4
Nelson Marlborough 134,173 2.71% 851.7
Northland 253,390 1.71% 1,309.8
South Canterbury 37,800 2.52% 617.4
Southern 342,853 4.40% 1,022.7
Tairawhiti 33,661 2.24% 654.4
Taranaki 136,881 2.86% 1,112.1
Waikato 654,015 2.77% 1,519.9
Wairarapa 36,524 2.80% 751.2
Waitemata 1,297,279 2.46% 2,061.9
Whanganui 36,617 2.70% 536.6
Unknown 246,352 1.96% NA
Total 7,889,716 2.85% 1,577.8
Tests by ethnicity from 22 January 2020 to 29 May 2023
Ethnicity* Total test Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Māori 1,150,257 2.89% 1,500.3
Pacific Peoples 916,010 4.94% 2,489.8
Asian 1,293,342 2.71% 1,760.4
European or Other 4,144,985 2.53% 1,333.5
Unknown 385,122 1.60% NA
Total 7,889,716 2.85% 1,577.8

* 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 29 May 2023
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 2,844.7 2,694.7 2,047.0 2,260.9
Bay of Plenty 1,108.6 2,061.8 1,364.9 1,017.7
Canterbury/West Coast 1,029.0 1,191.7 1,101.8 942.0
Capital & Coast/Hutt 1,029.5 1,161.0 967.5 1,043.0
Counties Manukau 2,757.9 3,091.3 2,169.0 2,285.1
Hawkes Bay 717.9 1,714.9 949.4 728.9
Lakes 1,220.2 1,423.8 1,483.3 971.2
MidCentral 802.5 954.1 767.0 696.2
Nelson Marlborough 892.9 2,392.8 1,000.6 785.6
Northland 1,320.3 1,599.6 1,285.9 1,281.2
South Canterbury 703.0 1,145.8 761.5 574.5
Southern 1,038.5 1,481.6 1,173.5 983.2
Tairawhiti 658.1 984.1 954.9 594.1
Taranaki 1,189.2 1,356.0 1,446.5 1,054.3
Waikato 1,707.2 1,944.1 1,703.7 1,409.1
Wairarapa 805.1 997.2 842.5 721.1
Waitemata 2,471.2 2,603.0 1,710.5 2,059.4
Whanganui 525.0 625.2 621.2 523.7

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 district and ethnicity from 22 January 2020 to 29 May 2023
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 3.09% 5.05% 2.58% 2.32%
Bay of Plenty 2.72% 4.41% 3.18% 2.39%
Canterbury/West Coast 3.60% 5.59% 3.04% 3.81%
Capital & Coast/Hutt 2.86% 4.80% 2.77% 2.77%
Counties Manukau 3.24% 5.24% 2.59% 1.85%
Hawkes Bay 2.13% 2.86% 3.26% 2.25%
Lakes 1.95% 2.56% 1.48% 1.88%
MidCentral 2.45% 5.40% 2.55% 2.82%
Nelson Marlborough 2.82% 4.44% 4.46% 2.51%
Northland 1.88% 2.39% 1.80% 1.58%
South Canterbury 2.17% 3.05% 2.84% 2.54%
Southern 3.82% 5.09% 5.27% 4.36%
Tairawhiti 1.96% 4.68% 1.88% 2.48%
Taranaki 3.19% 4.10% 3.05% 2.76%
Waikato 3.25% 5.09% 3.54% 2.29%
Wairarapa 2.72% 4.33% 2.95% 2.78%
Waitemata 2.90% 4.45% 2.51% 2.05%
Whanganui 2.94% 4.61% 1.95% 2.60%

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

Testing rate and results by age and sex

Tests by age group from 22 January 2020 to 29 May 2023
Age group Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
0 to 9 511,301 3.56% 782.7
10 to 19 664,444 3.79% 1,037.2
20 to 29 1,477,194 2.63% 2,191.0
30 to 39 1,504,128 2.37% 2,182.8
40 to 49 1,162,592 2.23% 1,852.9
50 to 59 1,147,744 2.19% 1,794.0
60 to 69 811,192 2.60% 1,517.0
70 to 79 378,830 4.39% 1,057.8
80+ 229,891 7.66% 1,254.0
Unknown 2,400 10.75% NA
Total 7,889,716 2.85% 1,577.8
Tests by sex from 22 January 2020 to 29 May 2023
Sex Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Female 3,851,230 2.93% 1,510.3
Male 3,788,129 2.84% 1,547.1
Unknown 250,357 1.74% NA
Total 7,889,716 2.85% 1,577.8

Note: On 4 January 2022, the Ministry of Health started reporting testing rates using the Ministry's HSU population estimate.

Related information

Page last updated: 29 May 2023

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