Focus: How to stop the spread of coronavirus. Video / AP / Mark Mitchell
On Monday, August 13, a mere 13 people arrived at Taupō's Miro St community testing centre to be swabbed for Covid-19.
Three days later, the figure was nearly 16 times higher, with queues stretching down Miro St as people waited anxiously in their cars to be swabbed.
After the PrimeMinister announced at 9.23pm on Tuesday, August 11 that New Zealand had a new community transmission case of Covid-19 and would move to alert level 3 in Auckland and alert level 2 in the rest of the country, testing numbers soared.
Outside Auckland, people in the Rotorua and Central Plateau areas were especially concerned after it was revealed that the family at the centre of the new cluster had travelled to both towns during a weekend break, and two cases were confirmed in Tokoroa.
The day after the announcement, numbers at Taupō's Covid-19 community testing station jumped from 13 to 165. The next day it they were higher again, at 188. They peaked at 204 on Friday, August 14.
The weekend saw a small drop in numbers, with 99 people tested on Saturday, August 15 and 107 tested on the Sunday, but rose again on Monday August 17, when 130 people were swabbed. Since then the numbers have steadily declined, from 72 to 59, to 28 and then to a combined total of just 24 tests over both days last weekend.
Incident controller and Lakes District Health Board's director of nursing and midwifery, Gary Lees, says staff at the Covid-19 testing centres were extremely busy in the days following the announcement of the new cluster and did an incredible job in rapidly ramping up testing capacity.
In all, 1125 were tested for Covid-19 at Taupō in the 12 days immediately following the new outbreak.
Last week, Lakes District Health Board reported that 949 tests had been done in its area, of which 349 were from Taupō.
In Tūrangi, Tūwharetoa Health carried out four community testing sessions took 155 swabs between Monday, August 10 and Friday, August 21.
Pihanga Health also performs Covid-19 testing by appointment and did 133 tests between Monday, August 10 and Sunday, August 23.
Things have now settled back to more normal levels, but Mr Lees said it remains important for anyone with possible symptoms of Covid-19 to seek advice from their GP or Healthline and to get a test if advised to do so.
Symptoms include: sore throat, shortness of breath, fever, cough, runny nose and loss of smell.
The Taupō testing centre is at 79 Miro St and it is open from 9am until 4pm daily.
