JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman is monitoring her 72-year-old mother’s health, as well as her own, after they voted at a Mandarin precinct, where a poll worker was stationed during the March 17 primary election before testing positive for the new coronavirus.
According to the Duval County Supervisor of Elections, the individual worked at Precinct 608, located at Freedom Christian Fellowship Church at 3423 Loretto Road. The individual, who started experiencing symptoms six days after working at the polling site, was tested on Friday and received a positive test result on Monday.
The supervisor of elections said 360 voters went to that location on March 17. Those voters include Anna Morel and her 72-year-old mother.
“I gave them ID and my mother’s ID. The person that is infected was the man that was at the precinct,” Morel said. “He was the one that registered us he was the one that took our ID.”
Morel said she received two calls from the board of elections, notifying her of the poll worker’s health.
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The supervisor of elections said it is not identifying the poll worker with the virus, but did say the poll worker is a technician who rotated roles during the day at the precinct.
Morel told News4Jax she and her mother are feeling OK, showing no symptoms and are in self-isolation.
“I feel fine. My mother’s OK,” Morel said. “I check her temperature to make sure everything’s good. I’m very concerned about the poll worker. I try not to be paranoid about this. We have to practice social distancing. We have to be safe.”
Morel said she was hesitant to go with mother, who has a compromised immune system, to Precinct 608, but decided to go since voting is very important to her and her family after becoming United States citizens.
“Right now she’s OK. She has rheumatoid arthritis. Se’s doing fine. She has Alzheimer’s, so she doesn’t go to the day care so I keep her home and I work from home,” Morel said.
Duval County Supervisor Of Elections Mike Hogan said the poll worker who tested positive did interact with a woman who was not feeling well but wanted to vote. Workers did sanitize the voter’s area afterward and, at this time, it’s unknown how the poll worker contracted the virus.
Hogan said a letter has been sent to the 360 voters who were at the precinct on March 17, notifying them of their risk of exposure to COVID-19. Voters should expect to get the letter delivered Wednesday.
READ | Letter sent to 360 voters who were at Precinct 608 on Election Day
“We don’t want to spread this virus any more than it has been,” Morel said. “We have to be careful and we have to have the consciousness that we are responsible for something that happens next to us and their families.”