National Party leader Judith Collins is backing the use of rapid antigen testing, despite overseas experts urging caution against their widespread use.
The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia has advised against the use of rapid antigen tests in Australia and New Zealand due to low prevalence of Covid-19 infections.
The college said in a statement the sensitivity from the tests can range from 50 to 94 percent and there was the chance for both false negatives and false positives.
Collins said her belief was the sensitivity ranged in the 90s, and they were still valuable as a screening tool.
"They are reliable, if they used on a frequent basis, like every day, that is going to end up with a reliability factor that actually shows that people will be able to take some charge of their own lives with them."
She said the Royal College of Pathologists may have come out against them but they are still available in Australia.
"I just think this is something where unfortunately, for some reason, the Royal College of Australasia has come out against them but in Australia, they are now rolled out, people can buy them in their supermarkets. You can buy them in the US, you can buy them in the UK, I don't think we should think that even though New Zealand is the best little country in the world, that we have all the answers when other countries seem to be able to manage with them."
