Phillips rakes Gov’t on public-health, economy balance
Published:Tuesday | June 9, 2020 | 12:21 AM
OPPOSITION LEADER Dr Peter Phillips has knocked the Andrew Holness administration’s handling of the reopening of some sectors of the Jamaican economy, charging that it has not found the right balance.
“We obviously can’t stay at home forever, but we don’t need to be reckless or unplanned or underplanned with how we go forward. That applies not just to the schools, but the tourism sector, and to others,” Phillips argued.
Phillips, who was on a school tour in his St Andrew East Central constituency on Monday, was sceptical of the protocols surrounding testing and the key indicators that would inform the Government on how it would proceed to further open or close sectors.
Unlike Jamaica, Phillips said, other countries have outlined a clear standard.
He said that he supported the view put forward by the Medical Association of Jamaica that visitors to the island should be tested for COVID-19 as regular flights for non-nationals are set to resume on Monday, June 15.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness outlined measures last week that did not include mandatory testing for tourists but would incorporate screening by public-health officers.
“We not trying to scare away people, but we need to find the balance between the economic interest of the country and the public-health interest of the country and that balance, I don’t think, is not being properly struck right now,” Phillips said.
Business passengers staying in the island for 14 days or fewer will be subjected to mandatory testing for COVID-19.
Visitors from the so-called bubble countries will not be required to take a mandatory test upon landing but will be screened and may be subjected to test depending on the outcome of that process.
Countries in the travel bubble include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.