Vaccination staff have been redirected to help out at overrun Auckland Covid-19 testing sites where kilometres-long lines of hundreds of cars have gathered.

The Albany testing centre has already reached full capacity today and is turning away people waiting in line, including Kristine Isla who is 35 weeks pregnant and who also waited hours at the same site yesterday.

People at other sites are being advised to prepare to be waiting for some time and remain calm.

Thirteen community testing centres are available across Auckland today including three new pop-up centres set up yesterday at Pakuranga, St Johns and Māngere East.

All centres in Auckland are continuing to operate extended hours and many will remain open until 8pm today.

A steady queue at Wellington Central's testing centre on Taranaki St is growing as the Herald understands at least two cases have been confirmed there. People wearing masks are waiting in the rain while others line up in cars. 

People waiting to be tested at the Taranaki St Covid-19 testing station, Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A site dedicated to testing staff, pupils and anyone connected to the Avondale College cluster has opened at the Avondale Racecourse today.

Closed vaccination centres

Vaccination centres at Birkenhead, Epsom, Highbrook, Pukekohe and Takanini have closed as staff are "urgently diverted to support the surge in testing today following the announcement of further cases and related locations of interest", the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre said today.

Eight are still operating. The centres that are open are Manurewa, Ōtara, Henderson, Westgate, Mt Wellington, Auckland CBD, Albany and Tāmaki (Glen Innes).

Most centres will be operating at reduced capacity due to social distancing measures.

People will be sent a text and email on whether their appointment will need to be rescheduled.

"We apologise for any inconvenience and we will be rescheduling people in as quickly as possible," a spokesperson said.

Danielle Windfuhr turned up at the ASB Showgrounds vaccination centre this morning only to find it closed, and security staff had no idea why.

It was only when she called Healthline that she learnt it would be closed today and she had to re-schedule for another couple of weeks from now.

"It's really annoying that no one knew why or what was happening," she told the Herald.

Windfuhr said she understood the need for contact tracing and testing, but said vaccinations should also be a priority.

She said having no warning was "frustrating" and "annoying".

Wellington

In Wellington queues are steadily growing at the Taranaki St Covid testing station as the Herald reports two cases in the community there.

People wearing masks are waiting in the rain while others line up in cars. 

People wearing masks wait to be tested at the Taranaki St Covid-19 testing station, Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

An additional testing facility has already been set up at Hataitai Park and a vaccination centre will open at the Michael Fowler Centre tomorrow, Mayor Andy Foster told the Herald.

Albany

Hundreds of cars have snaked their way around the North Harbour Stadium car park and Oteha Valley Rd at the Albany testing centre.

Staff have told the Herald the site is being cut-off otherwise they won't have time to get through everyone.

Leon and Kristine Isla were among the people turned away.

The pair had been waiting for about four hours this morning, after waiting two hours at the same site yesterday before being turned away.

Kristine was also 35 weeks pregnant with the pair's third child - a girl.

The pair were at the Westfield mall last week, buying things for their 3-year-old's birthday. The mall had since been deemed a location of interest.

"We can't do anything, they are just managing the load," Leon said.

Despite the wait, both Leon and Kristine didn't blame testing staff, saying they understood they were doing their job.

However, with two kids at home and dwindling supplies, Leon said they didn't have time to go elsewhere for a test today.

"Food is running thin.

"If we line up in another place, it's just going to be the same thing.” 

Long queues on Oteha Valley Road are waiting to get into the pop-up testing station at North Harbour Stadium. Photo / Dean Purcell

Leo Chen, who worked in the area, had been waiting about five hours and was expecting several more hours of queuing at the in-demand centre.

"I'm just scared someone here has Covid," he told the Herald.

Naomi and Richard, along with their two kids, have been queuing at the Albany centre for almost four hours now after they were linked to a location of interest.

Naomi said the wait had been fairly pleasant, helped along by friendly staff.

However, she did highlight the lack of bathroom facilities with what looked to be just two portaloos for the more than 150 cars waiting.

"It just feels a bit dirty if someone goes in there and they're sick," she said.

The family previously lived through five months of "hard lockdown" in Saudi Arabia and felt Kiwis didn't have a full understanding of what extended lockdowns meant.

"I don't think [Kiwis] know what Covid fatigue is actually," she said.

Avondale

A dedicated Covid testing station is now open for pupils, their families and staff of Avondale College after a number of community cases were linked to the school.

The centre for Avondale College contacts opened at the Avondale Racecourse at 9am.

It follows a staff member having a confirmed case of Covid-19 and another family connected to the school also being infected with the virus.

All staff and students at the school have been ordered to stay home and self-isolate for 14 days and get tested.

A dedicated Covid testing station is now open for pupils, their families and staff of Avondale College at Avondale Racecourse. Photo / File

The school said all close contacts would also need to have further tests on August 23 and August 29.

In a newsletter to the school community from regional public health officials said the new testing centre was for the school community only "to alleviate some of the frustration experienced when trying to get a test".

Family members now also needed to stay at home until Sunday or until the student or staff in their household has had a negative test result.

"Students and staff do need to complete the 14-day self-isolation, and have negative test results, before they can leave their homes, even if New Zealand's national alert level changes from the current Level 4," said the letter.

Henderson

People in west Auckland who visited locations of interest have been lining up at the Henderson testing centre since the early hours of this morning.

Almost 300 cars were waiting at the Henderson Covid-19 testing site before it opened. Photo / Adam Pearse

Henderson resident Ti Schwk rolled out of bed at 4am to arrive at the Edsel St testing centre at 4.20am and was currently second in line before the centre opened.

The Corrections staff member said she visited the site yesterday but did not bother queuing because the line was too long.

Watching a movie to pass the time, Schwk said she was looking forward to getting some work done in the rest of the day.

"I want to spend my day working instead of waiting in line.”

Chantal Fareti and her partner arrived at 4.30am, along with their three children - aged 2, 9 and 10.

Fareti's sister worked at Avondale College so she wanted to get tested, just to be safe.

Asked whether it was difficult to wake the whānau this morning, Fareti said the kids' interests were piqued by the early start.

"I think for them it was quite exciting, they didn't know where we were going.”

The queue at Henderson is now more than 350 cars long, stretching more than 2km.

Northcote

The queue at the Northcote testing station is almost 300 cars long, winding its way around College Rd, Exmouth Rd, Lake Rd and Akoranga Dr, a similar situation to yesterday.

Joshua van Wyk and Megan Flatt arrived at the Northcote testing centre at 7.10am to find about 200 cars in front of them in the queue. 

Joshua van Wyk and Megan Flatt have been waiting at the Northcote testing centre. Photo / Adam Pearse

Both essential workers, the pair spent seven hours at the Albany testing centre yesterday but were unable to get tested.

van Wyk had been calling multiple medical centres in the area but hadn't been able to book test appointments as they were not registered with those centres.

The pair were both considered close contacts after being at the Glenfield mall - a location of interest.

Flatt said morale was "very low", while van Wyk said it was disheartening that close contacts were not able to get a test quicker.

Many people the Herald has spoken to at testing centres have not been close contacts but wanted a test to know they didn't have the virus.

"If they are asking us to get tested, there should be a better way," he said.

"For us, we have to get the test, no matter how long we have to wait."

The pair received a code when they called Healthline which van Wyk said would ensure they received their test result quicker than others.

Wairau Valley

Police are monitoring traffic at the Wairau Valley testing centre as people flock to get tested.

One woman told the Herald the excess demand at the site had led to people jumping the queue as there was no traffic management in place.

Police traffic management is in place at the Wairau Valley Covid-19 testing site. Photo / Adam Pearse

The woman, whose daughter was a Northcote College student, said she had tried to book in at the local GP - where she was registered.

However, she was told there was no space today and was advised to stay in the queue, which she'd been in since 7am.

There is some confusion about whether walk-ins are being accepted.

A staff member told the Herald walk-ins are not being accepted at the Wairau Valley pop-up testing centre at eventfinda Stadium to focus on the large line of cars.

But a NRHCC spokesperson said the centre is accepting everyone who needs to be tested.

Other testing centres

Staff at North Shore Hospital are lining up outside one of the hospital buildings for a Covid-19 test after a patient tested positive for the virus overnight.

Staff at North Shore Hospital lining up outside one of the hospital buildings for a Covid-19 test. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Narrow Neck testing station is hugely congested, with cars building up along Seabreeze Rd to Lake Rd.

Cars build up along Seabreeze Road to Lake Road at the Narrow Neck testing station. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It was a slow uptake this morning at a new testing centre at the Netball Centre in St Johns, but a queue is now snaking around the carpark.

Covid-19 testing station at the Netball Centre in St Johns, Auckland. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Auckland health authorities are urging anyone wanting to get a test to call your GP, a designated practice or urgent care clinic to see if they have availability.

Here are the current locations for testing centres and pop-up centres across Auckland.

Yesterday testing centres in Auckland had their busiest day ever. Around 24,000 swabs were taken across Auckland, with around 8000 swabs at community testing centres and around 16,000 at general practice and urgent care clinics.

Follow these tips before going to get a test:

· If you were not at a location of interest at the stated times and you have no symptoms you do not need to be tested.

· If you were at the locations of interest at the times stated, you need to get a test.

· If you have symptoms get a test.

· If you do have to wait for a test, our frontliners ask for your patience and empathy, please be kind.

For up-to-date information on testing locations in Auckland, visit www.arphs.health.nz/covid19test. For up-to-date info on all testing locations, visit www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/