Groom Dies & 95 Wedding Guests Test Covid-19 Positive In Patna

In order to contain the spread of coronavirus, the authorities have strictly instructed people to use masks, clean their hands at frequent intervals and follow the social distancing norms. Even though the government has permitted to organise public events post Unlock 1.0, they have also advised to do it in an intimate manner with only 50 people in attendance.

However, these regulations were defied in a village in Bihar’s Patna during a wedding ceremony. And as a result, 95 guests were tested positive for coronavirus, reported India Today. The district administration came to know about this case of mass spread of coronavirus when the 30-year-old groom died just two days after tying the knot in Paliganj. Soon after, the administration took samples of the groom’s close relatives and his neighbours and as many as 15 people tested Covid-19 positive.

The authorities then started tracing all the guests who attended the wedding celebrations on June 15 and on Monday, 80 more people tested positive for coronavirus. Times of India reports that the deceased groom, a software engineer in Gurugram, couldn’t be tested as the family cremated him prior to informing the Patna administration.

According to Patna DM Kumar Ravi, who received an anonymous call informing him about the groom’s death, the groom had returned to his village Deehpali on May 12 for his wedding. “Someone called me and told me about this incident.”

“The groom had returned from Gurugram and even though he was symptomatic, the family went ahead with the wedding.”

“When his condition deteriorated, his family rushed to AIIMS- Patna but he died on the way,” he said.

A local said that the groom’s health deteriorated when his wedding rituals started. However, the family took him to a quack and he was home quarantined. Even a day before his wedding, the techie collapsed and was shivering. He then died 2 days later. However, the bride, a civil engineer, tested negative for coronavirus.

Paliganj BDO Chiranjeevi Pandey said that apart from Deehpali, they have sealed the areas from where people had gone to attend the wedding.

“We collected 300 samples, including those of vegetable sellers and all those involved in any kind of trade in the vicinity. Of them, 80 tested positive today.”

“Now we are preparing the list of contacts of these 80 people,” he added.

It is sad to know that even though the bride and groom’s family were educated enough (both bride and groom’s fathers are teachers) to understand the magnitude of the situation, they neglected the groom’s symptoms and defied all the norms, putting everyone’s life at risk.

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