It also found ministers and top health officials were inadequately briefed on New Zealand's testing capacity, which led to a delayed response. "That's a mammoth effort – and I want to personally thank laboratory staff across the motu for their ongoing commitment to the health of all New Zealanders. " He said a lack of national authority on capacity had meant laboratory staff were caught in between "political expectation and real time system failures". "By the time clarity on single test capacity was provided to ministers, the backlog had already accumulated," the report said. Taylor, who had been consistently vocal about the pressure being placed on laboratory staff, said the stress felt by the system was predictable.

Source: Otago Daily Times June 14, 2022 08:12 UTC