Twenty-seven Covid patients cast their votes in Sunday’s Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, sources in the state election commission said.
“According to figures from the KMC, a total of 163 active patients were in Kolkata on Sunday who were in a condition to cast their votes. Of them, 96 patients had expressed willingness to cast their votes. Arrangements were made accordingly, but only 27 of them could make it to the booths and exercise their franchise,” said a source said.
The commission had earmarked an hour — 4pm to 5pm — for Covid patients to cast their votes.
Many of the patients who cast their votes were taken to the polling stations in ambulances.
An elderly couple, who live next to their polling station, walked to the voting venue.
“We had never imagined that we would be able to vote even in this condition,” said the wife, a 64-year-old homemaker who had tested positive for Covid a week ago. Her 67-year-old husband took the test a day after her report came.
The woman said she received a call from the local borough office asking them if they needed an ambulance to visit the polling station. As they stay close to their polling station, they chose to walk down, said the Kankurgachi resident.
Polling officials said they had started the process of identifying Covid patients in the KMC area a fortnight ago.
“We had to identify Covid-positive people, who would be asymptomatic and who would be willing to cast their votes despite their illness. We started making marathon calls to all patients who, according to official records, have tested positive till December 5, exactly a fortnight before,” said Suhena Sengupta, executive health officer of Borough XVI.
“Today, many said they had already tested negative and some said they did not feel like going out,” Sengupta said.
Once the names were enrolled, the patients’ identity documents were connected through WhatsApp and a database of their addresses and phone numbers was prepared.
Out of the 39 Covid ambulances that were kept stationed, the ones earmarked for specific boroughs were activated to pick up the patients from their homes.
Polling officials said that according to the standard operating procedure for voting by Covid patients, once the voter gave his or her final consent to step out of home to cast the vote, an ambulance would be sent to pick him or her up.
A doctor was accompanying the patient in each ambulance, the official said.
“As soon as the ambulance started for the polling station, the presiding officer received a call so that he or she would put on a PPE kit,” said the official.
“Most voters knew that the last hour was for Covid patients. But a few who were still standing in the queue cast their votes before the patients were asked to step out of the ambulances,” said a doctor who accompanied a man and his son in Ward 125.
General Covid norms were followed for the rest of the voters. Although there were separate drums for disposal of gloves, many voters were spotted littering the polling station premises with used gloves.