Kia ora,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

All the RT-PCR tests undertaken in New Zealand as part of the public
health response are specific for SARS-CoV-2.

 

All laboratories who perform COVID-19 testing in NZ are IANZ accredited
which means they are required to perform local validation of the assays
including specificity testing before employing the test. PCR is highly
specific by nature of its primer and probe designs which bind specifically
to genomic areas which are unique to SARS-CoV-2.

 

Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [1][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602. 

 

Ngā mihi 

OIA Services Team 

  

[2]Ministry of Health information releases 

[3]Unite against COVID-19 

 

show quoted sections

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #16865 email]

Is [Ministry of Health request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests
to Ministry of Health? If so, please contact us using this form:
[4]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[5]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

show quoted sections

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared
by the Ministry of Health's Content and Virus Filtering Gateway

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
3. https://covid19.govt.nz/
4. https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...
5. https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

Kia ora,

 

Thank you for your follow up email.

 

A PCR test can detect bits of Reverse Transcribed RNA (RT-RNA) which has
come from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is translated
into Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA) also known as RT-DNA as it has been
reverse transcribed. The RNA sequence for SARS-CoV-2 has unique regions,
meaning the primers used in PCR to detect SARS-CoV-2 will only amplify a
specific section only found in SARS-Cov-2. This is a definitive and highly
specific test. When this test is used in conjunction with a clinical
assessment of patient’s symptoms, the diagnosis of COVID-19 is highly
robust. In addition, The variants of COVID-19 (including the delta
variant) are determined by Whole Genome Sequencing. Detailed information
on genome sequencing can be found on the genome sequencing Q&A on ESR’s
website
at: [1]www.esr.cri.nz/our-expertise/covid-19-response/new-news-page/

 

Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [2][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602. 

 

Ngâ mihi 

OIA Services Team 

  

[3]Ministry of Health information releases 

[4]Unite against COVID-19 

 

show quoted sections

 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared
 by the Ministry of Health's Content and Virus Filtering Gateway

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

 Visible links
 1. [5]mailto:[email address]
 2. [6]https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
 3.
[7]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...
 4.
[8]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...
 5.
[9]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #16865 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[10]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

show quoted sections

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared
by the Ministry of Health's Content and Virus Filtering Gateway

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Visible links
1. http://www.esr.cri.nz/our-expertise/covi...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
4. https://covid19.govt.nz/
5. mailto:[email
6. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
7. https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...
8. https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...
9. https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...
10. https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...