Rapid antigen tests arrive ahead of omicron peak
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Over the past two days, 5.2 million rapid antigen tests (RATs) have arrived in New Zealand, as the country moves to the next phase of the omicron response.
Another 10 million will arrive over the weekend, bringing the total supply of RATs in the country to more than 22 million by Monday.
RATs will increasingly become the primary testing method in the community with daily case numbers expected to hit 10,000 very soon.
The tests will soon be shipped to community testing centres, GPs and pharmacies right across New Zealand. Businesses who need them as part of the close contact exemption scheme can also access them.
Users who take a RAT will get their results within 20 minutes which will help identify cases sooner, reduce testing wait times and minimise disruption to business and ensure critical services and infrastructure workforce can continue to keep New Zealand operating.
Despite significant global constraints, New Zealand has secured enough RATs to ensure that anyone who needs a test can get one throughout the omicron outbreak.
Aotearoa has orders in place for 180 million RATs over the next six months.
In phase three, PCR tests will be used in hospitals, aged residential care facilities and GPs can order a PCR if they think it’s necessary.
Lisa was born in Auckland at the start of the 1970s, living in a small campsite community on the North Shore called Browns Bay. She spent a significant part of her life with her grandparents, often hanging out at the beaches. Lisa has many happy memories from those days at Browns Bay beach, where fish were plentiful on the point and the ocean was rich in seaweed. She played in the water for hours, going home totally “sun-kissed.” “An adorable time to grow up,” Lisa tells me.
Lisa enjoyed many sports; she was a keen tennis player and netballer, playing in the top teams for her age right up until the family moved to Wellington. Lisa was fifteen years old, which unfortunately marked the end of her sporting career. Local teams were well established in Wellington, and her attention was drawn elsewhere.