New Zealand earned global recognition for its immediate response to the pandemic, with PHF Science playing a central role in establishing national surveillance for the new virus. The organisation also provided timely intelligence to support critical government decision-making, including on early response measures such as timings and duration of lockdowns, and informing government throughout the evolving pandemic. 

Whole-genome sequencing was at the forefront of Aotearoa’s ability to detect, monitor and respond to variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. PHF Science was the first organisation in Aotearoa to sequence the virus and was soon delivering sequencing results with the fastest turn-around times in the world. The unique strengths of this capability enabled scientists to track variant transmission in near real-time, providing excellent evidence that vaccine developers and health agencies rely on to support public health decisions.  

PHF Science expanded their wastewater surveillance capabilities to track infection trends and identify circulating variants in Aotearoa. Early in the pandemic, wastewater surveillance showed whether COVID‑19 was present in a community, providing timely information to decision makers. When an unexpected positive detection of COVID-19 was found in a Taranaki town, officials were alerted, prompting a rapid response that helped prevent widespread transmission.  

Online dashboards were also created: the National COVID Data Repository – New Zealand’s first such repository, set up at pace by PHF Science – provided feeds of all COVID results from diagnostic laboratories and uploads of RAT results from community testing into one central location. This became a key source of truth for the daily numbers reported at the famous ‘1pm stand-ups’. 

The COVID-19 in wastewater dashboard meant communities could see at a glance the levels of SARS-CoV-2 in their region. This information continues to be updated regularly, placing important science in the hands of New Zealanders wanting to make decisions to manage their health.