COVID-19

Testing for COVID-19

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

Last updated 1pm 27 September 2022.

This data is updated weekly. All data on this page relates to tests recorded prior to 11:59 pm 25 September 2022.

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

On this page:

See also:

Testing summary, status, and results

COVID-19 testing
  Total
PCR tests uploaded during past week 14,049
All COVID-19 viral tests administered 7,544,063
Testing kits in stock 22,373
Testing results from 22 January 2020 to 26 September 2022
Test results In managed facilities Within NZ communities Total
Tested positive for COVID-19 3,826 185,145 188,971
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 236,714 7,066,901 7,303,615
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 190 51,287 51,477
Total (all tests) 240,730 7,303,333 7,544,063
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 30 Aug to 4 Sep 6 Sep to 11 Sep 13 Sep to 18 Sep 20 Sep to 25 Sep
Auckland 2,520 2,376 2,123 1,861
Bay of Plenty 343 332 267 327
Canterbury/West Coast 1,943 1,908 1,406 940
Capital & Coast/Hutt 1,727 1,709 1,427 1,223
Counties Manukau 1,964 1,962 1,701 1,695
Hawkes Bay 168 156 90 80
Lakes 125 134 135 104
MidCentral 246 198 145 185
Nelson Marlborough 262 220 177 164
Northland 299 302 323 306
South Canterbury 149 133 115 107
Southern 1,839 1,773 1,646 1,460
Tairawhiti 51 43 45 51
Taranaki 641 588 538 586
Waikato 1,759 1,726 1,646 1,568
Wairarapa 110 151 110 77
Waitemata 1,973 1,879 1,527 1,415
Whanganui 36 53 40 39
Unknown 3,171 2,523 1,767 1,861
Total 19,326 18,166 15,228 14,049

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 30 Aug to 4 Sep 6 Sep to 11 Sep 13 Sep to 18 Sep 20 Sep to 25 Sep
Māori 2,372 2,343 2,108 2,020
Pacific Peoples 1,381 1,337 1,189 1,122
Asian 2,668 2,422 2,231 1,910
European or Other 9,673 9,506 7,869 7,084
Unknown 3,232 2,558 1,831 1,913
Total 19,326 18,166 15,228 14,049
Total tests
COVID-19 test result 30 Aug to 4 Sep 6 Sep to 11 Sep 13 Sep to 18 Sep 20 Sep to 25 Sep
Tested positive 1,724 1,515 1,049 774
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 17,526 16,585 14,139 13,226
Inconclusive result 76 66 40 49
Total 19,326 18,166 15,228 14,049

Testing rate and results by location and ethnicity

All tests by district and in managed isolation and quarantine facilities from 22 January 2020 to 26 September 2022
Location Total tests Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Managed isolation and quarantine facilities 240,730 1.59% NA
Auckland 1,145,727 2.50% 2,328.2
Bay of Plenty 271,499 2.42% 1,047.6
Canterbury/West Coast 560,633 2.96% 936.6
Capital & Coast/Hutt 468,145 2.65% 994.6
Counties Manukau 1,472,329 3.06% 2,485.2
Hawkes Bay 132,446 1.93% 759.0
Lakes 124,849 1.58% 1,091.0
MidCentral 129,069 2.24% 710.0
Nelson Marlborough 127,878 2.14% 811.7
Northland 242,758 1.33% 1,254.8
South Canterbury 36,189 2.08% 591.1
Southern 302,762 3.79% 903.1
Tairawhiti 32,444 1.95% 630.7
Taranaki 122,050 2.65% 991.6
Waikato 613,917 2.49% 1,426.7
Wairarapa 34,738 2.40% 714.5
Waitemata 1,250,554 2.11% 1,987.7
Whanganui 34,974 2.23% 512.5
Unknown 200,372 1.49% NA
Total 7,544,063 2.50% 1,508.7
Tests by ethnicity from 22 January 2020 to 26 September 2022
Ethnicity* Total test Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Māori 1,093,466 2.65% 1,426.3
Pacific Peoples 886,720 4.79% 2,410.2
Asian 1,239,121 2.40% 1,686.6
European or Other 3,968,788 2.09% 1,276.8
Unknown 355,968 1.38% NA
Total 7,544,063 2.50% 1,508.7

* 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 26 September 2022
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 2,753.2 2,630.8 2,001.1 2,229.2
Bay of Plenty 1,063.5 2,010.6 1,304.7 983.8
Canterbury/West Coast 943.2 1,103.9 1,022.7 885.4
Capital & Coast/Hutt 973.8 1,102.6 911.0 985.3
Counties Manukau 2,702.9 3,014.4 2,092.2 2,265.4
Hawkes Bay 681.9 1,634.0 914.3 702.9
Lakes 1,173.2 1,394.2 1,566.2 956.6
MidCentral 763.1 921.9 709.9 671.7
Nelson Marlborough 828.8 2,342.5 972.7 746.3
Northland 1,251.4 1,509.6 1,268.9 1,231.3
South Canterbury 667.5 1,029.2 754.9 549.2
Southern 899.0 1,278.7 1,027.5 868.0
Tairawhiti 624.4 979.0 931.2 577.4
Taranaki 1,040.3 1,201.1 1,303.3 940.4
Waikato 1,583.3 1,813.6 1,591.3 1,320.9
Wairarapa 762.4 978.4 834.0 681.1
Waitemata 2,366.6 2,510.5 1,621.0 1,995.2
Whanganui 498.6 547.8 617.4 500.5

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 26 September 2022
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 2.93% 4.89% 2.25% 2.02%
Bay of Plenty 2.57% 4.43% 3.16% 2.17%
Canterbury/West Coast 3.04% 5.28% 2.52% 2.99%
Capital & Coast/Hutt 2.64% 4.69% 2.48% 2.45%
Counties Manukau 3.04% 5.11% 2.33% 1.56%
Hawkes Bay 1.77% 2.66% 2.99% 1.81%
Lakes 1.74% 2.47% 1.36% 1.44%
MidCentral 2.04% 5.18% 2.22% 2.14%
Nelson Marlborough 2.26% 4.40% 4.35% 1.85%
Northland 1.62% 2.06% 1.24% 1.12%
South Canterbury 1.78% 2.92% 2.30% 2.08%
Southern 3.23% 4.89% 4.42% 3.75%
Tairawhiti 1.69% 4.97% 1.46% 2.12%
Taranaki 3.06% 3.94% 2.91% 2.52%
Waikato 3.04% 4.95% 3.41% 1.94%
Wairarapa 2.41% 3.93% 2.82% 2.32%
Waitemata 2.71% 4.20% 2.18% 1.65%
Whanganui 2.72% 4.68% 1.49% 2.00%

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 26 September 2022
Age group Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
0 to 9 466,334 3.40% 713.9
10 to 19 646,891 3.72% 1,009.8
20 to 29 1,438,221 2.49% 2,133.2
30 to 39 1,460,124 2.19% 2,118.9
40 to 49 1,128,632 2.04% 1,798.8
50 to 59 1,108,825 1.91% 1,733.2
60 to 69 768,998 2.09% 1,438.0
70 to 79 338,396 3.14% 944.9
80+ 185,949 5.45% 1,014.3
Unknown 1,693 10.87% NA
Total 7,544,063 2.50% 1,508.7
Tests by sex from 22 January 2020 to 26 September 2022
Sex Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Female 3,699,280 2.58% 1,450.7
Male 3,641,776 2.49% 1,487.3
Unknown 203,007 1.40% NA
Total 7,544,063 2.50% 1,508.7

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: 27 September 2022

Print Feedback
Back to top