A woman was contacted by the Ministry of Health's tracing team four and a half weeks after she came into contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case.
She took a regional flight on 17 March and ten days later developed symptoms of the respiratory virus.
The woman was denied testing, until she could prove contact with a confirmed case, or had heard from the contact tracing team.
Instead a week later she found a media report naming the regional flight she had taken as one with a Covid-19 case - only then was she able to be tested.
The woman, who RNZ has agreed not to name, spoke to reporter Charlotte Cook.
We asked the Ministry of Health for comment.
In a statement provided to RNZ they said their "case definition for contact tracing people on an aircraft is those sitting within 2 seats in all directions. Other people on the flight would have been considered casual contacts."
They went on to say "if the passenger had flown from a country or area of concern at the time and had developed symptoms then she would have been eligible for testing.
"Similarly, if she had heard that there was someone with Covid-19 on her flight and she developed symptoms within 14 days of the flight, she would also have met the criteria for testing that applied at that time.
"We acknowledge that it would have been too late for her to be tested once the contact tracing team contacted her, [however] the passenger would have been able to identify whether any of her close contacts had become unwell and they could have got tested."
