Covid-19 PCR test results are taking up to five days to process in Auckland.
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People are being asked to keep isolating at home while they wait, and not call Healthline or the laboratories to check the status of their test.
Laboratories have come under pressure from continued high demand at the region's testing centres.
Some results are coming back within 48 hours, but an increasing number are taking up to five days.
The Northern Region Health Co-ordination Centre says large numbers of people have been turning up at testing sites across Auckland.
That is despite officials' pleas for people without symptoms, or a valid reason for a test, to stay away.
The Ministry of Health this week said unnecessary testing could delay results for those who urgently need them.
"People should only get tested if they have a cold or flu symptoms, are a close contact, or if they have been asked to get tested by a health official," the ministry said.
Earlier in the week, 70 percent of those turning up at Covid-19 testing centres in Auckland had no symptoms.
Canterbury DHB creates extra ward for Covid patients
The Canterbury District Health Board has created an extra ward for Covid-19 patients, as the Omicron outbreak grows in Ōtautahi.
The city now has 56 active cases, 35 of which were announced yesterday.
So far, none are in hospital.
Students from Marian College and St Thomas of Canterbury College are among those who have tested positive.
DHB chief executive Peter Bramley said part of Christchurch Hospital has been converted into a high acuity ward for Covid patients who need help to breathe but do not need intensive care. Patients in high acuity wards receive more acute care and closer monitoring than they would in a general hospital ward.
Bramley said the hospital has enough beds to care for the expected surge in the number of people needing treatment for the virus.
Wellington Hospital ward closed to visitors due to Covid case
A ward at Wellington Hospital has been closed to visitors because a staff member who attended a private event tested positive for Covid-19.
The Capital and Coast District Health Board has confirmed the person worked a shift on the ward before testing positive: at the time they did not have symptoms, wore a mask, and followed all the usual safety precautions.
Other staff from the ward who attended the same event are self-monitoring for symptoms.
The DHB said it is confident the risk of infection to patients and others on the ward is very low, and the closure is a precaution.
