Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield today apologised for incorrect public messaging over Auckland testing which was posted by an official channel over the weekend.
The post on the Unite Against Covid-19 Facebook page, shared on Saturday labelled an "important message", urged people in West and South Auckland to get tested when possible.
The message should have read only those with symptoms need to seek testing.
Dr Bloomfield - who was on leave until today - apologised for the error at the 1pm briefing.
"We’ve undertaken a rapid review to understand how incorrect messaging around testing was disseminated to the public on the weekend to ensure this doesn’t happen again," he said.
"We found the message was signed out clinically and was appropriate, then in the conversion of the message to the public an error was made and a senior officer should have signed it off as a final step and we have put in place a process to stop this happening again.
"I want to acknowledge it caused anxiety and confusion for Aucklanders and apologies for that."
Yesterday, Judith Collins repeatedly asked Jacinda Ardern why she didn’t address the incorrect messaging on Auckland testing until asked by journalists at the 1pm briefing on Sunday.
National’s leader repeatedly asked why the PM didn’t address incorrect messaging on Auckland testing until asked by journalists. (Source: Other)
"The suggestion somehow that we weren’t willing to acknowledge the incorrect posting of information, we are constantly available every day to answer questions about our Covid response, we’re here to be accountable on our Covid response, we never shy away from that duty," Ardern said.
"If the member is somehow under assumption that I wanted to share correct information in my stand up as opposed to incorrect information that is for the member's own interpretation, but I simply do not accept that we would ever put ourselves in a position to not front up because we do it every day."
Ardern said she wanted to use the first 15 minutes of the briefing to put out the correct information rather than address the incorrect messaging.
When pressed by Collins, the Prime Minister said she knew journalists would ask about the incorrect messaging and she would have a chance to address it then.
At the briefing on Sunday, Ardern said she was "incredibly angry" the wrong advice had gone out on an official channel around Covid-19 testing in West and South Auckland.
"We have to be very clear in our communication, we have to be very direct in our asks and you’ll see that in a very dynamic environment, by and large, we are able to be very, very consistent," she said.
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