Covid 19 Delta outbreak: There are 173 new cases in the community today. Video New Zealand Herald

People waited five days to find out if they were infected with the new crown virus, which raised concerns that the Auckland detection system was beginning to collapse.

A week ago, the country will switch to a new protection framework, relying on swabs of unvaccinated people to cross the border.

Health officials said that efforts are being made to reduce turnaround testing time and improve laboratory capacity.

At the same time, an urgent consultation has been issued to Auckland doctors, telling them that patients can now wait up to five days to get Covid-19 test results.

The health committees of the three metropolitan areas in the region issued an alert on Wednesday, stating that the current turnaround time for Covid testing is longer than normal due to “continuous rise in demand”.

"Please inform the patient that it may take up to five days to receive the results," the notice read.

Passing on this information will reduce the amount of inquiries made by people tracking results to laboratories, health hotlines, community testing centers, and primary care institutions.

Doctors were told that they were working to reduce turnaround time, and the Ministry of Health revised the testing guidelines and improved laboratory capacity.

So, when I received the five-day Medinz result notification message, I thought it was the beginning of the system crash. Symptomatic patients will become infected on the 7th day. what. pic.twitter.com/nSTu6VpYN3

Dr. Rawiri Jansen, clinical director of the National Haurora Coalition, said that the situation is deeply worrying, and this is a sign that the detection system is beginning to collapse.

"In my opinion, this is deeply worrying. If a delay in processing a test means that people who are positive for a few days do not know they are positive, this is a problem."

He said the delay may make the infected person become very uncomfortable while waiting for results or unknowingly spreading the virus. Delays in testing can also cause the disease level to reflect the number a few days ago.

He said: "If we receive the current figures, we have received it on the basis of the same period, it is timely, if not, then we will soon be in trouble."

"These delays will intensify and more people will get sick."

He warned that 100,000 people will try to be tested in two weeks to cross the border of Auckland and enter and exit the country’s Covid hot zone.

Starting December 15th, people who have not been vaccinated will be required to take a negative test 72 hours before leaving Auckland for other parts of the country. This requirement will remain unchanged during the core summer period until January 17.

"Potentially, our system will put a huge burden on it within 7 days. If we have people who spread it but don’t know they are positive, it will come back to us in an uncomfortable way and land on people. At the time, Jason said that they were preparing to cross national borders.

"If we are still where we are catching up with the test, and the test is delayed, I think we need to announce this as soon as possible.

"In my opinion, this is an early sign of a potentially huge challenge."

Jensen said that it is important to implement new strategies in our testing environment so that people who are symptomatic, in close contact, or likely to be positive can be prioritized in this situation.

The best way to deal with potential failures is to keep the alert level in place.

"Politically speaking, it will not operate, but if our testing capabilities are disrupted, this is an appropriate public health response.

"If we have any feelings about the climax of the case, then the actual correct response is to have a circuit breaker."

A spokeswoman for the Northern Region Health Coordination Center (NRHCC) said that the recent increase in surveillance tests, including for teachers and workers who are allowed to cross the border, means that the laboratory network in the region is under greater pressure and the tests received The volume exceeds the local capacity since the beginning of October.

"In order to support the growing demand, samples continue to be sent to laboratories across the country for processing," she said.

In the past 7 days, the laboratory processed an average of more than 15,150 tests per day. In comparison, there were approximately 9,000 daily sessions eight weeks ago.

The spokeswoman said that although most samples were produced within two days, a few samples take longer. It is important that the general practitioner communicate this with the patient.

"Efforts are being made to reduce turnaround time, and the Ministry of Health is revising testing guidelines and improving laboratory capacity," she said.