Groom with Covid-19 symptoms dies two days after getting married while more than 100 guests are struck down with the disease after also attending his funeral in India
- The 26-year-old software engineer had Covid-19 symptoms before his wedding
- Family members urged him to take paracetamol to reduce his temperature
- Two days after the wedding on June 15, he died and was quickly cremated
- 111 guests including his new wife have been struck down with Covid-19
More than 100 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 after attending the wedding and then funeral of an Indian man who was seriously ill with coronavirus when he got married.
The 26-year-old man had symptoms of the disease when he got married on June 15, according to officials in Bihar state.
Officials today confirmed the man died on June 17.
A groom with Covid-19 symptoms complained of Covid-19 symptoms ahead of his wedding in Patna, India on June 15 . The 26-year-old software engineer died two days later. He was cremated before officials could perform a post mortem, file photograph
Raj Kishor Chaudhary, chief medical officer in Patna, the state capital confirmed the matrimonial outbreak.
He told AFP: ‘So far 111 people who either attended the wedding or the funeral have tested positive.
‘All others have been identified and isolated.’
Doctors are not certain the unnamed groom was the source of the infection as he was cremated before tests could be carried out.
According to local media, the victim complained of Covid-19 symptoms and was urged to take paracetamol to get down his temperature so he could attend the ceremony.
But Chaudhary said around 400 people who attended the wedding or funeral would be isolated following a spurt in infections.
The groom, a software engineer who returned home from near New Delhi only a week before the wedding, had shown symptoms before the nuptials.
He was briefly admitted to hospital, but his family had him discharged and hosted the wedding with over 300 guests.
He died at his home two days later, with nearly 200 people attending the funeral. Some had attended both.
None of the groom’s relatives – including his bride – tested positive, officials said.
Authorities have launched an investigation into possible violations of social distancing regulations on the number of guests at both the wedding and funeral, file photograph
Authorities have launched an investigation into possible violations of social distancing regulations on the number of guests at both the wedding and funeral.
No more than 50 guests are allowed at India’s famously lavish and colourful weddings – and just 20 people at funerals – to limit the risk of spreading coronavirus.
The epidemic is raging across the South Asian country of 1.3 billion people, with almost 600,000 infections and 17,000 deaths reported so far.
Bihar, one of the country’s poorest regions and home to 120 million people, has recorded nearly 10,000 cases, with 62 deaths.
Experts believe a lack of testing is hiding the true figures and that the nationwide toll is far higher than reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has eased lockdown restrictions despite a surge in cases.
But on Tuesday he warned the nation to be more cautious.
‘We have become lackadaisical,’ he said.
‘I again want you all to observe precautions in the same way as under lockdown.’