PNP disappointed by new COVID-19 containment measures
Published:Tuesday | August 10, 2021 | 10:12 AM
The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) is expressing disappointment in the new COVID-19 containment measures announced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, arguing that it signals that the Government has run out of ideas as to how to get on top of the crisis.
Among other things, Holness yesterday announced cutbacks in curfew hours, gathering limits, a ban on entertainment events, and the closure of nightclubs and other places of amusement.
READ: Entertainment sector shut down, other COVID restrictions tightened
The PNP is not impressed, arguing that instead of offering meaningful initiatives that can tackle the COVID crisis, Holness is merely reshuffling the past measures that have not worked.
The party is contending that Holness has failed to explain how the virus will be contained by starting the curfew one hour earlier each day.
To the contrary, people leaving work in the afternoons will be bungling up in supermarkets and grocery stores so as to get off the road before the earlier curfew starts, the PNP argued.
It added that the opposition has long contended that this will facilitate, rather than curtail, the spread of the virus.
“Similarly, the nation is hard-pressed to understand what is to be achieved by starting the curfew at 2:00 p.m. rather than at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays? Will that really have any impact on the spread of the virus?” a spokesperson said in a statement today.
“By all accounts, the quarantine system for visitors to Jamaica has broken down. There is no effective enforcement of the rules, from entry at the airport to checks at home. An extra hour of curfew will not address this glaring weakness in the system, either,” the spokesperson continued.
The opposition is demanding that the Government immediately recommence meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on COVID-19 so that it can focus on devising containment strategies.
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