7 Sep 2021

Testing all hospital patients for Covid-19 'not possible' - health officials

From Checkpoint, 5:16 pm on 7 September 2021

Health authorities have rebuffed calls for all patients to be tested for Covid-19 when entering hospital, saying that's simply not possible.

The midwives' union has demanded the action after a Middlemore hospital patient shared a ward with three others before later testing positive.

The Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield this afternoon told reporters he was very satisfied the clinicians made good decisions based on the information at the time.

He says it's not feasible to test everybody who comes on a hospital site.