The United Nation and other international agencies say they are ready to support the government in efforts to stomp out COVID-19 from Fiji entirely.

UN Resident Coordinator Sanaka Samarasinha says with the B1617 variant now in Fiji, they are liaising with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Ministry of Health on how best they can help.

The UN Resident Coordinator while commending Fiji’s contact tracing and containment effort says they are on standby to help.

“From the beginning, we have been providing support in procuring different to procuring ventilators and PPEs. The question is not so much about whether we are able to get ventilators that quickly. We can if it’s needed.”

While it is important that the Ministry of Health has the capacity to handle the situation, Samarasinha says they are also ensuring that the vaccine under the COVAX facility arrives by next week.

A shipment of personal protective equipment is expected in the next 10 days to boost the protection of frontline workers.