Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken has accused the DUP's Sammy Wilson of being 'pathetic and petty' for his attacks on Northern Ireland`s Health Minister in the middle of a pandemic.
Mr Aiken said the East Antrim MP had reached "a new low even for the DUP".
"It is clear that Sammy Wilson has won the DUP`s internal battles and is now pulling Arlene Foster`s strings."
Yesterday, Mr Wilson accused Robin Swann in an interview withthe BBC of not using enough resources within his department to slow transmission.
"Robin Swann would be much better concentrating on how he can improve the health service in order to deal with coronavirus rather than how he can destroy the economy in order to deal with the failings of his own department and of himself as a minister," Mr Wilson said.
Mr Aiken reacted angrily and issued a statement saying that this "is more of the same pathetic petty party-political point scoring from the DUP."
"Sammy Wilson attempting to undermine a unionist minister in the middle of a pandemic is hitting a new low, even for the DUP," he added.
“This is a man who was pictured on the London Underground not wearing a face covering and has regularly undermined public health messages. And his colleagues now ignore medical and scientific advice.
Mr Aiken said the DUP had "run away" from taking the health portfolio in January.
“As for his unfounded criticism of Robin Swann, it was the DUP which ran away from taking the Health portfolio in January. They ducked it twice. For an MP, Sammy Wilson is also very ill informed. He should have read the Health Minister`s statement to the Assembly yesterday.
"The key issue facing the Health Service is staffing capacity. There are over 5,000 vacancies across the Health and Social Care system and that`s a direct result of years of underfunding by the Executive. It`s a pity Sammy Wilson and his colleagues never did anything to resolve that instead of blundering about until the Executive collapsed.
“If Sammy Wilson wants to talk about damage to the Economy, he should speak to his DUP colleague, Economy Minister Diane Dodds who is presiding over a chaotic Covid Restrictions Business Support Scheme which has failed to deliver for the vast majority of businesses which have applied for it. Half a billion pounds are sitting in the Executive`s coffers and the DUP Economy Minister can`t get support to the businesses which are pleading for it.”
Last week the DUP blocked two separate proposals from Robin Swann to extend Covid restrictions by triggering a cross-community vote in the Executive.
Three or more ministers can ask for any vote to be taken on that basis, effectively giving a veto to larger parties.
Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill accused her government partners of abusing a measure designed to protect minority rights rather than thwart health regulations.
With hospitals under huge strain with Covid cases, further discussions are expected to take place among ministers as the hospitality sector prepares to partially re-open.
"We want to be in a position where we can come together collectively," Ms Foster said yesterday.
"... I hope we do not have to use it again. Let's have a collaborative way of working with the health minister."
Mrs Foster also said ministers were not planning for an early closure of schools at Christmas.
"This is a crisis for our community and the economy. We have heard clearly from our businesses about the impact.
"... People who lost their jobs, they have lost all purpose in their lives. They need to get that back again, to feed their families."
She added that circuit break restrictions have seen the reproductive rate of the virus drop below one and "school is one of the safest places to be".
"We need to deal with these issues because people need to have their life chances so that they can make a future for themselves.
"We want to disrupt that as little as we possibly can."
