Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Shanan Halbert apologises after wasting Covid test capacity

Northcote Labour MP Shanan Halbert has apologised for not following testing guidance. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour's Northcote MP Shanan Halbert has apologised for not following the latest Covid-19 testing guidance by getting tested when asymptomatic, something New Zealanders have been advised not to do as overwhelmed testing centres struggle to cope with the Omicron surge.

Halbert was outed on Twitter after he commented on someone's Facebook post noting he had seen them "walking around town" despite the fact the person claimed to be waiting for the result of a Covid PCR test.

The current health guidance is to stay at home while awaiting results. Halbert said he meant "no criticism" just "clarification".

Halbert had himself said that he was suffering from testing deadlines too, and had been waiting for results of a test taken last Saturday.

The chair of the Northcote National Party, Camryn Brown, noted that if Halbert had been waiting for a test since Saturday, then he too had fallen foul of the rules, with numerous social media posts showing him out and about in the intervening days, including at a crowded RSA meeting.

Halbert issued a clarification saying he had not been tested because he was symptomatic, but simply as part of a testing programme used by Auckland MPs coming to Wellington.

But this scheme ended in January.

Halbert said he continued using the testing scheme after it expired as "a precaution".

"As a precaution I carried on getting this routine testing given that I come into contact with vulnerable constituents. I am not and have not been symptomatic over that time. I apologise for not following the updated Ministry of Health guidance around asymptomatic testing." he tweeted.