DOH wants casting of ballot be done in 'shortest time possible'

The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday recommended that the casting of ballot for each voter in the 2022 polls should be accomplished the "quickest time possible" to avoid coronavirus infection at the polling precinct.

"'Pag tingnan po natin, based on the characteristics ng virus, ang sinasabi magkakaroon ka ng close contact na definition kapag ikaw ay na-exposed sa isang tao ng 15 minutes or less. Noong dumating ang Delta variant, nawala na ang 15 minutes dahil napaka-transmissible ang Delta variant," health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at the Laging Handa briefing.

[If we observed, based on the characteristics of the virus, we get into close contact -- by definition -- with an exposed person for 15 minutes or less. But this is not the case with the Delta variant, which is highly transmissible.)

"Kaya ang atin pong rekomendasyon pagka ganito, soonest time possible. Pinakamabilis na proseso dapat, hindi dapat nagko-congregate, dapat mabilis ang proseso, maayos so hindi magka-crowd ang mga tao kapag nangyari," she said.

(Our recommendation is that the casting of ballot of each voter should be done the shortest time possible and in an orderly manner, so that people would not congregate.) —LBG, GMA News