MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will put up isolation polling areas for voters found to have COVID-19 symptoms on May 9, election day, although it has yet to work out guidelines with the Department of Health.
Around 67.5 million voters are expected to cast their ballots in polling centers in the national and local elections next month.
On Thursday, Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said the poll body will designate a separate polling area for voters with COVID-19 symptoms after temperature checks.
"If a voter has COVID-19 symptoms like fever or diarrhea, they will be brought to an isolation polling precinct. That's where they can vote. They can accomplish their ballots there, and members of the electoral [boards] will drop the ballots in the vote counting machines," Garcia said in Filipino during an interview with Dobol B TV.
Comelec will coordinate with the Department of Health in ironing out the rules in rolling out these special polling centers, he added.
Garcia indicated that the isolation polling place will be located beside the precinct, adding that they will inform political parties, citizen groups and candidates of their isolation policy.
Aimee Torrefranca-Neri, another Comelec commissioner, has said earlier that the poll body is eyeing the creation of such polling places for voters in a bid to protect the public from COVID-19.
On Thursday, Garcia also said Neri is considering setting up a medical team stationed at precincts on May 9 to provide quick response to any medical issues.
The Philippines registered a total of 1,674 new COVID-19 cases from April 11 to 17, which was 12% lower than a week earlier, according to the Health Department.
Local health authorities have recorded over 3.68 million COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began. — Angelica Y. Yang