At least four Kiwis have been tested for Covid-19 more than 100 times, with the top spot held by a Jet Park quarantine facility staffer who has been tested a whopping 160 times.
All of New Zealand's top 20 most-tested individuals are healthcare workers at the Auckland quarantine facility, revealed in data released to the NZ Herald under the Official Information Act.
The staffer at the top of the leaderboard has undergone a total of 160 tests as of September 9 - comprising 102 nasopharyngeal tests and 58 saliva tests.
The staffer in second place has endured 145 nasopharyngeal tests in their total of 153 tests.
The two remaining employees to crack triple figures have done 127 and 108 tests.
Mandatory Covid testing of border workers was introduced on August 14 last year, with tests administered on either a weekly or fortnightly schedule.
Extra tests can be required if staff are symptomatic or have contracted the virus. Saliva tests, which only became available to all border workers from August 11 this year, are performed twice a week.
All 20 of the top most tested Kiwis are staff members at the Jet Park quarantine facility in Auckland. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Jet Park staffers can be subject to more testing than those working at other facilities. Many would have been regularly tested prior to its mandatory enforcement, and some may have been involved in the saliva testing trial at Jet Park.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson expressed their gratitude to MIQ workers who had undergone multiple tests in an effort to protect New Zealanders from the virus.
Also under the Official Information Act, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment revealed the most frequent visitor to MIQ has endured 14 periods of taxing isolation.
As of June 30, one person has stayed in MIQ 14 times, one has stayed 13 times, three people have stayed 11 times and three others have stayed 10 times.
All of these people are aircrew - frequent users of MIQ given the nature of their work.
Aircrew are exempt from completing the full 14 days in isolation if they are determined by a health practitioner to be at low risk of having or transmitting the virus.
For the general public, data up to August 13 showed two individuals had been through MIQ five times, 49 had been through four times and 332 had been through three times.
