Only a handful of COVID-19 patients who were in home isolation availed the facility to cast their votes on Tuesday.
Authorities said that while many registered with the Health Department to vote earlier, only a few turned up to vote.
Speaking to The Hindu, S. Ram Ganesh, Deputy Director of Health Services, said 13 vehicles, including nine ‘108’ ambulances, were deployed to ferry the patients from their residences to the polling booths. Health workers alsowent door-to-door and distributed 250 PPE kits to eligible voters. The last hour of polling — from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. — was earmarked for them.
Among the nearly 300 active cases in the district in home isolation, 87 showed willingness to vote. Of them, 37 hailed from rural parts of Tiruchi. The patients were given the phone numbers of drivers of the 13 vehicles.
During the last hour of polling, all booth workers, presiding officers and police personnel at the booths were instructed to wear PPE kits, including rubber gloves, ahead of the arrival of the patients.
However, only 42 patients turned across the nine constituencies in Tiruchi district. “Many showed interest in casting their vote, but backtracked when they were informed that they would have to wear PPE kits and go to the polling booth,” Mr. Ganesh said.
Meanwhile, a woman patient from Tiruverumbur, who was brought in a ‘108' ambulance along with her husband to register their vote in Mukkulathor Higher Secondary School said she was impressed by the arrangements. “We thought that everyone would run on seeing us. However, authorities at the booth guided us and helped us every step of the way,” she said.
In Karur district, nine patients, including two women, voted in the four Assembly constituencies.