KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is calling for Health Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton to resign due to what the party labelled as his “repeated failures and inability to effectively perform the duties of his office”.

In a statement Thursday from the party’s General Secretary, Dr Dayton Campbell, the PNP criticised the health minister’s handling of the pandemic which has so far infected 69,054 and killed 1,568.

“In light of the discord in the public domain regarding the procurement of oxygen, the Ministry of Health is the office with responsibility for ensuring that sufficient supplies are available for our hospitals. Ultimately, the minister of health has failed. We cannot continue to accept failure after failure at the detriment of our citizens,” the party said.

“The minister must resign. It is in the best interest of the country that Minister Tufton be removed from this portfolio for his repeated failures and inability to effectively perform the duties of his office. The people of Jamaica deserve better, they deserve a chance at life,” it continued.

Noting that on March 10, 2020, Jamaica recorded its first case of the novel coronavirus, the PNP said 18 months later the country is still without a proper COVID-19 management plan.

“During our third and most deadly wave of the pandemic, the Ministry of Health and Wellness failed to meet the needs of hospitals and clinics islandwide. 

“Though not the first case of poor planning, the most recent oxygen shortage demonstrated that the minister of health and by extension, the Government is failing and has failed to exercise the duty of care owed to the people of Jamaica and our dedicated healthcare workers,” the party said.

The Opposition claims a number of patients died over the weekend due to the lack of oxygen available at health care facilities. It said nurses and doctors complained of having to “bag” patients as young as newborns to aid their survival.

“This crisis was avoidable. The inability of the Ministry of Health and Wellness and this Government of Jamaica (GOJ) to accurately forecast our oxygen needs, diversify supply if necessary and provide patients with the best possible chance of survival, is a gross dereliction of duty. To make matters worse, the GOJ has since denied healthcare workers’ reports of what was witnessed in hospitals across the island,” the party claimed.

The PNP said many of the deaths recorded since the pandemic could have been prevented had the government put in place proper measures to lower the number of cases, enhance healthcare infrastructure and mitigate some of the effects of the globally devastating COVID-19 pandemic.

It added that recommendations for fever clinics, home and early COVID management protocols have fallen on deaf ears, which it said has led to many in the population being unable to access health care for non-COVID -19 conditions.

“The Government must take responsibility for the result of their mishandling of the pandemic. The minister of health must be held accountable for the poor management of the pandemic, which has caused the loss of life of scores of loved ones. Many of the lives lost over the weekend could have been prevented,” the Opposition said.

The PNP also urged the nation to get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance as the country endures another spike.