The Ministry of Health failed to properly estimate the Covid-19 PCR testing capacity of the country's laboratories before they were swamped by the surge of Omicron cases, an external review has found.
File photo: Laboratory PCR testing for Covid-19 Photo: AFP
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield has conceded the ministry "could and should have done better" in managing the coronavirus testing system, which was beset by significant delays during the early stages of the outbreak.
The ministry identified a goal of 60,000 daily pooled tests by the end of March but instead ended up with a backlog of 32,000 tests older than five days old by 1 March that laboratories advised would be destroyed.
Bloomfield ordered the review that day, when he apologised and admitted health chiefs had overestimated the number of PCR tests laboratories could process.
There were inconsistent reports of laboratory testing capacity, he said.
"It's clear from the findings that we could and should have done better on both estimating that capacity and communicating that nice and clearly."
Once samples were in the system, it was "virtually impossible" to shift them to other laboratories, Bloomfield said.
"We couldn't readily move samples around the country and that's what was a major contributor to the backlog."
The delays were not the fault of laboratory staff, who had processed more than seven million PCR tests since March 2020, he said.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The review by Allen + Clarke found issues with the definition of capacity that led to misinterpretation of the system's ability to respond to a surge in Omicron cases.
"The backlog in PCR testing that emerged in February 2022 should have been and was to some degree predictable," the report said.
"The ministry's testing modelling did forecast single test capacity being exceeded and modelled scenarios that forecast PCR testing capacity with pooling, would also be exceeded."
The backlog of tests was eventually processed by the end of March, once the country shifted to phase three of its Omicron response.
Bloomfield said work was well underway to implement all of the review's nine recommendations.