In the COVID-19 global pandemic over 100,000 viral genomes have now been characterised, and made accessible to the global community. In the context of Aotearoa New Zealand’s pandemic response, the genomic sequencing of positive COVID-19 samples will become an increasingly important tool that must be seamlessly integrated into our holistic health response. The aim of...

The purpose of this document is to provide a rapid point-in-time evaluation of the different testing strategies for COVID-19 and recommend some possible options, scenarios and tests that may benefit New Zealand’s pandemic response. Relevant to this document, is that COVID-19 testing is a rapidly moving field and the testing scenarios can change quickly.