New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 31, 2020. More COVID-19 tests would be conducted in New Zealand, with the criteria for receiving a test being expanded, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty/Pool via Xinhua)
WELLINGTON, March 31 (Xinhua) -- More COVID-19 tests would be conducted in New Zealand, with the criteria for receiving a test being expanded, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday.
More than 21,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in New Zealand and the country has the capacity to test about 3,500 people a day, Ardern told a press conference.
"I want more tests. We've built the capacity for more tests," Ardern said, adding more tests would show where the community outbreaks happen.
Clinicians would be clearer about the criteria for a test, she said.
New Zealand entered a national lockdown last Wednesday.
The prime minister said supermarkets will be closed as usual on Good Friday but will be open on Easter Sunday.
She called for the public to be kind to supermarket workers.
