133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
9 September 2021
T+64 4 496 2000
Ngaire Corley
By email: [email address]
Ref:
H202110442
Tēnā koe Ngaire
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your requests under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health (the Ministry) on 12 August 2021 for:
“Please provide evidence of the diagnostic specificity of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR “testing”:
What are the specific features of Covid-19 that make is a definable disease?”
Diagnostic specificity of nasopharyngeal swabs to detect SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR method is
very high, more than 99%, as reported in a systematic review in the Journal of the American
Medical Association
(www.jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2775397),
analysis by the United Kingdom’s Of ice for National Statistics
(www.blog.ons.gov.uk/2021/04/09/accuracy-and-confidence-why-we-trust-the-data-from-the-
covid-19-infection-survey/), and the Centers for Disease Control in the United States
(www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/testing-overview.html).
People with COVID-19 may experience fever or chil s, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty
breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headaches, loss of taste or smell, sore throat,
congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhoea (CDC, WHO, Australia).
Complications of COVID-19 may include respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome
(ARDS), sepsis and septic shock, thromboembolism, and/or multiorgan failure, including injury
of the heart, liver, or kidneys (WHO). While these symptoms and complications are also found in
other respiratory il nesses, laboratory tests detecting SARS-CoV-2 wil confirm the diagnosis of
COVID-19.
I trust this information fulfils your request. 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 a
t: [email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-official-
information-act-requests.
Nāku noa, nā
Gill Hall
Group Manager, Science and Insights
COVID-19 Health System Response
