Auckland and Northland tested almost as many people for COVID-19 last week as they did in their busiest week ever.
There had been huge queues at some Auckland testing centres since new cases of the virus began arriving from overseas last week.
In the week to June 21, 17,247 people in the region were swabbed for COVID-19, a spokesperson for the region's DHBs said.
That was just shy of its biggest week ever, 17,921. That was the week ending May 10, just before Cabinet was to decide whether to move to alert level 2.
Other centres were also facing high demand as anxiety over the new cases grew, and the winter cold and flu season meant more people had symptoms.
Canterbury's Pegasus Heath, which runs COVID-19 community assessment centres said seven were still operating, but most GPs were also swabbing.
The chief executive, Vince Barry, said its testing facilities were "under significant pressure" because of increased demand.
Wellington was keeping its centres open longer than expected to meet the need.
There were no longer community assessment centres in many smaller regions, with general practices picking up the work.
That included the Bay of Plenty DHB which said it had since had a significant increase in demand and was supporting practices to cope.
The Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said the country may need to "surge up" it's testing facilities.
Under the Health Ministry's latest plan, district health boards will have to show they are keeping up with national testing rates and ensure they are reaching all communities.
The Health Minister, David Clark, said some of that would include random testing of people without any symptoms, especially those working at airports or isolation hotels.
RNZ
