The Government is set to provide a further $12 million in support of Fiji's ongoing Covid-19 response.
It follows an assistance package for Fiji announced earlier this month which included the delivery of 100,000 doses of vaccines and funding for the recruitment of 190 Fiji graduate nurses to provide surge capacity across the health system.
"Fiji remains in a very challenging position in their response to Covid-19 and our continued thoughts are with the Fijian people at this time," Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a statement on Thursday.
"New Zealand is committed to supporting our Pacific neighbours through these unprecedented times. We need to look beyond our own borders in the fight to eradicate Covid-19."
The Fiji Ministry of Health announced 200 new Covid-19 cases and zero deaths in the 24 hours to 8am on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 47,709 since the outbreak began.
The package will support "ongoing equipment and supply needs, including testing capacity, oxygen supply and personal protective equipment (PPE) stocks" over the next 12 months, she said.
It will also help provide "urgent and essential operations costs, including funding for technical assistance, surge support for Government operations, and support for monitoring of community isolation cases".
The Government will also contribute a further $1 million to the International Red Cross Global Appeal for Covid-19, which will support the Fiji Red Cross Society’s National Response Plan focused on the vaccine rollout, blood donations and the training of volunteers for home-based care.
"We continue to stay in contact with the Government of Fiji and civil society partners to respond to further requests of assistance."
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