France considers more Covid-19 help for Tahiti

9:37 am on 28 October 2020

France says it is ready to give more help to French Polynesia to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic which has claimed 26 lives.

A minister Brigitte Bourguignon gave the assurance to a French Polynesian parlamentarian Moetai Brotherson who warned that intensive care places would be full within two to three weeks.

The minister said the question of more support was being discussed but she gave no details.

French Polynesia health minister Raynal updates Covid-19 response

French Polynesia health minister Raynal updates Covid-19 response Photo: supplied

As of yesterday, 86 people were in hospital and 19 of them in intensive care while more than 2300 cases were reported to be active.

After eliminating the virus by June, French Polynesia restarted international flights in July and abolished quarantine requirements for arriving travellers to boost tourism.

The pandemic has since spread to all archipelagos and French Polynesia is on a per capita basis now among the world's most infected places.

Measured against the population, French Polynesia has almost 600 times more active cases than New Zealand, where they are in managed border facilities.