Yesterday Dr Ashley Bloomfield apologised for the roughly 32,000 testing samples that had been delayed in processing.
Minister Chris Hipkins today acknowledged the situation and said the Government had been drawing on information from the Ministry of Health; however, he didn't want Bloomfield to step down.
"It's clear in this case that the advice that they provided [about testing capacity] to us and to the public, didn't stack up in terms of what the labs were ultimately able to deliver."
Hipkins said there would be plenty of time for a review in due course - but in the meantime, the focus had to be on the here and now.
If the reviews start to prevent current work, then they could do more damage, Hipkins said.
He said their focus now was on ensuring the roll-out of RATs was as smooth as possible and on clearing the remaining backlog of tests.
National MP Chris Bishop said in a press release today the Government needed to stop "throwing Ashley Bloomfield under the bus" and take responsibility for its failures.
"The Government didn't order enough rapid tests, early enough. That is why we are in this mess now, with people having to wait for hours to get a test and days to get a result.
"The Government needs to stop blaming officials for their own incompetence and stop ducking for cover whenever the going gets tough."
Bloomfield said yesterday about 12,000 of the delayed tests had been re-tested via PCR or RAT testing, he added. Some of the results, when they are returned, may be less sensitive than usual due to the delay.
The delays could have been minimised if the issues had been recognised sooner, he said, and about 9000 tests were sent to Queensland over the weekend to help clear the backlog.
Using rapid antigen tests (RATs) has meant the pressure on testing capacity has been eased in recent days, Bloomfield said.
Hipkins warned people not to stockpile and to be patient when trying to access RATs tests.
He said more sites were being stood up and tests were "literally arriving all the time".
"The older your tests are the less accurate they are so we don't want people stockpiling," Hipkins said.
This came as New Zealand hit a record 22,152 new community cases of Covid-19 today.
Hipkins announced a record 405 people in hospital with Covid-19. Of those, 10 are in ICU or HDU across New Zealand.
