Low Covid-19 testing rates risk future community outbreaks

A Stuff article.

Chronically low rates of people getting Covid tests – except during large outbreaks – puts New Zealand at risk of “flying blind” when it comes to detecting future community transmission, researchers say.

A Covid testing and genomic expert said saliva testing should be introduced as an alternative alongside nasal swabs, to encourage greater uptake.

Stuff has analysed data from the Environmental Science and Research Institute’s FluTracking project, which collects weekly responses from up to 46,000 people.

Read more.