Overwhelmed laboratories who process PCR COVID tests say they're struggling to keep up with demand and are inviting the Prime Minister in to see the reality first hand.
Jacinda Ardern insists the system can keep up but experts on the ground say it is crumbling.
"This is one heck of a challenge - this is, we all know, probably one battle that we're not going to win, Terry Taylor, New Zealand Institute of Medical Laboratory Science (NZIMLS) president, told Newshub.
About 28,000 Kiwis are currently getting a PCR test every day and Taylor says staff in laboratories around the country are working in overdrive to process them.
"They are actually really chasing their tail at the moment. There's a lot of stress and strain on those laboratory staff," Taylor says.
Newshub put the concern to the Prime Minister at Monday's press conference. She disputed it and insisted the system is keeping up with the demand.
"I wouldn't agree with that. We have the capacity to process 35,000 or more PCR tests on any given day," Ardern said.
But the NZIMLS president has a different view.
"Maybe the Prime Minister needs to come down and have a look for herself," Taylor said.
"It is disheartening in a way, sometimes, to just have figures bandied around that sometimes don't have any basis when you're working on the front line.
"We've only got the limited resources, we've only got the limited capacity. The reality of this is we can only test as many hours and minutes there are in a day.
"I think sometimes there just needs to be a bit of realism about expectations on a workforce that's already under strain."
He said the approach to PCR testing needs to change.
"When we have a look and see what's happening overseas, the mantra of testing everyone has really proved to not be that beneficial. We need to look at the people who are really getting sick and just promote the services to those people."
Rapid antigen tests (RATs) are now on offer at testing stations in Auckland.
The Ministry of Health said testing sites will determine whether a RAT or PCR is best. Access to RATs will also expand further over the coming week, but people waiting in queues on Monday were frustrated with the system.
"Hoped it would've been faster and there might have been an easier way to get a RAT, than actually sitting in the queue waiting for it," one person in a testing queue told Newshub.
"We waited in the queue for 3 hours to get a RAT - there's got to be a better system," another person said.
Taylor said any extra tool, like RATs, will help.
"Anything that takes the stress off the system is a good thing."
His plea to the public - be patient, healthcare workers are doing their best.
"No laboratory test is bigger than a person. If things are taking a bit longer it's not an indication of an under-performing workplace. They've been working so damn hard over the past two years."
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