The Covid-19 pandemic began in China, but it was inside a Wellington laboratory that it became a reality for New Zealand.
Lauren Jelley, a scientist at ESR, says the first positive test for Covid-19 here was both "exciting" and "a bit daunting at the same time".
Swabs and samples are taken form a patient's throat or nose, and the RNA of any viruses present is then extracted.
"We then put this with reagents and from this we can amplify that up and detect the virus in a clinical sample," Ms Jelley said.
The testing take 4-5 hours, but more than one can be done at once.
Hundreds of tests have already been carried out in New Zealand across three labs currently doing the tests - two others are expected to become available soon also.
ESR has five of the necessary testing machines, and each of those machines can do 22 samples at one time - so they're confident that they'll be able to keep up with demand.
Lisa Oakley of ESR's intelligence division says that data collected from the testing is being contributed to international efforts to find a vaccine.
SHARE ME