The Government has been forced to apologise for putting out false information which meant thousands of Aucklanders queued up for COVID-19 tests when they didn't need to.
Testing levels in south and west Auckland were manageable on Monday - people getting tests who genuinely needed them. It was in contrast to the panic of Sunday after a major Government communications blow-out.
People in south and west Auckland were ordered to be tested - even the asymptomatic. It was pushed on social media and was up on the Ministry of Health website for days.
"There was a moment of alarm there," one local man told Newshub on Monday.
"It made me stressed yesterday," a woman said.
Another woman told Newshub, "It almost seemed a bit unrealistic that that many people could get tested without overwhelming the system."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday if the instruction was legitimate it wouldn't have been sent out on social media.
"If we were going to do something so significant as ask hundreds of thousands of people to be tested, you would hear that from us, and not from a Twitter post or an Instagram post."
But it was on the Ministry of Health website for three days - the website the Government tells us to rely on for accurate information.
It's not just the public who are confused - GPs are too.
Last week Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield sent guidance saying doctors should consider testing some asymptomatic people.
But Newshub spoke to a Cromwell GP being told the opposite - don't test them - by his regional health officials.
"We need clear messaging and to be honest up until now it's been pretty good but something's changed in the last week and it's fallen apart," he said.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins said on Monday the Ministry of Health website is where people should go for information.
"Sometimes the communication leaving Wellington and getting where it needs to get to can get confused, therefore the Ministry of Health is where people should be looking for the direct line of advice."
Except for when the website is plain wrong.
"The buck ultimately stops with the Government and I clearly accept responsibility for that as does the Prime Minister," Hipkins said of the inaccurate information sent out.
"I do want to point out, though, neither of us saw these communications before they went out."
The Prime Minister has apologised.
"This could have and did cause anxiety for people and I'm sorry for that. No one should have any reason to feel any extra stress than they already do right now," she said.
"People know they can't believe what the Government tells them," National leader Judith Collins said on Monday.
Collins' husband has gone further, copping a tonne of flack online for sharing memes on Facebook saying "Unite against Cindy" and calling Ardern the "Incredible SULK" after she voiced anger on Sunday over the communication botch-up.
"We've been together for 41 years. I've never been able to get him to do anything I tell him to do," Collins said in response to criticism of her husband's posts.
The Government on the other hand can stir thousands to action - needlessly panicking a city.
