With the first phase of gram panchayat (GP) polls witnessing “social crowding” instead of social distancing, experts have emphasised the need for greater caution ahead of the second phase of polling on December 27.
The State Election Commission (SEC) had announced elections to 5,762 gram panchayats in two phases on December 22 and 27, after the High Court asked it to announce the schedule. This was despite the Health Department’s request seeking postponement of the elections.
With social distancing and other COVID-19 protocol hardly being followed during the first phase, the Health Department is now worried that it may result in a surge in the number of cases.
C.N. Manjunath, nodal officer for labs and testing in the State’s COVID-19 task force, expressed concern that the first phase polling was marked by unprecedented “social crowding” rather than social distancing. “Apart from door delivery of the virus during campaigning, there is every possibility of the infection having spread during polling too as people neither wore masks properly nor maintained social distance,” he said.
“While strict enforcement has to be there, the onus is also on people. They should understand that COVID-19 is here to stay. Just because the numbers are declining, it does not mean that the virus has disappeared. There should be stricter enforcement and greater awareness at least during the second phase,” Dr. Manjunath added.
TAC’s warning
The State’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) had warned that the GP polls may lead to door delivery of the virus. Following this, Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar had written to the SEC requesting postponement of the polls. “If the elections were not held till March, certain things could have been controlled. We tried from our end but it is unfortunate that our request was not considered,” the Minister told The Hindu on Wednesday.
“Given the onset of winter and the emergence of the new mutant variant of COVID-19 virus in the U.K., the next three months are crucial for us. The government will take all necessary precautions and strictly enforce COVID-19 appropriate behaviour during the second phase. I appeal to all political parties, candidates, and workers to follow precautions and cooperate with the government in containing the spread of the virus,” the Minister added.
