The Ministry of Health today issued a public ‘thank you’ to members of the public who have reported their Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT), with more than 47,000 test results reported yesterday, of which 16,625 were positive.
“We would again urge people to self-report RATs results, even if it is negative. If you are a household contact please still report your RATs results separately, even if other household members have already reported theirs,” the Ministry said in a statement this morning.
The self-reporting of RATs helps provide a clearer picture of how the pandemic is progressing. It is essential we have as much information as possible to inform public health decision-making.”
If you take a RAT you can report the result online through my COVID Record or by calling 0800 222 478 between 8am and 8pm. The Ministry is currently increasing the number of staff available to meet the demand from people seeking to report RATs results via the phone.
Further instructions for self-reporting RAT results can be found on the Unite Against COVID website.
“We are continuing to see a high demand for RATs and the Ministry continues to assure people that we have good supply of tests,” it said.
Yesterday, 33,000 RATs order were placed through the RAT requester site. In the four days since the RAT Requestor went live, orders have given more than a million New Zealanders access to RATs.
“More than eight million RATs arrived in the country over the weekend, and we currently have 9.7 million in our central supply,” the Ministry confirmed.
If you are symptomatic or a household contact, you can order RATs through the newly launched RAT requester site. You, or someone of your behalf, can collect your RAT order from a collection site listed on Healthpoint. Please only go to those sites that are listed as collection sites. If you need RATs for other reasons, such as travel, they can be purchased at a growing number of retailers.
New Zealand has reported 17,522 new community cases of COVID-19 today.
“Care needs to be taken when interpreting daily reported cases, which are expected to continue to fluctuate. This means that the seven-day rolling average of cases gives a more reliable indicator of testing trends. The seven-day rolling average of cases is today 17,921, up from 17,272 yesterday,” the Ministry said.
