MARGAO
Polling for the prestigious Margao Municipal Council has finally ended, giving a sigh of relief for the candidates and their political godfathers.
Healthcare workers, closely associated with the administration and handling of Covid patients, are all keeping their fingers crossed, fearing a worst scenario “ a spike in Covid cases in the commercial capital, post-election.
The reasons are not far too seek. While the election and police authorities caught one candidate red-handed while moving around to mobilize voters on polling day despite being affected by coronavirus, another candidate along with his family was spotted in a line at the South Goa district hospital, waiting for a Covid test.
Apart from the candidates, who have been susceptible and ran the risk of getting the virus during the near fortnight long campaign, information indicates that close supporters of the contesting candidates are already down with Covid along with their families.
What’s worrisome is that supporters of the contesting candidates had been moving door to door with our without the candidates to distribute the cards and other material to the voters. “We have information there are several families which are down with Covid with most members affected by the coronavirus”, sources said.
Take note, leaders of the key panels did put in place safety measures for the voters, by making available face masks and sanitizers when they came to ferry them to the polling stations.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed. When we heard the news of a candidate, who had tested positive for Covid, moving around in his car and trying to get out voters, the situation can be indeed scary. This may be just the tip of the iceberg. There may be candidates and their supporters who despite feeling unwell, must have gone around mobilizing voters”, the healthcare worker remarked.
He added: “We are keeping our fingers crossed simply because Covid cases had seen a rise in areas which had gone into elections across the country”.
Incidentally, Covid safety norms, including social distancing were all thrown to the winds right under the nose of election and police officials at many pooling booths as voters queued up to exercise their franchise.
