Groom dies as over 100 wedding guests test positive for coronavirus

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A wedding in India may have set off “the biggest infection chain” in one of its states after the groom, who was running a high fever, died two days after the wedding and more than 100 guests tested positive for the coronavirus.

The 30-year-old groom died on June 17 and was cremated without undergoing any coronavirus test, Indian Express reported last Wednesday, July 1. On his wedding day, the groom was apparently feeling unwell and wanted to postpone the nuptial, but his family advised against it.

The bride was not among the 113 people who tested positive for the virus. Over 360 people from the city of Paliganj and two of its adjoining towns were tested as part of the Indian health department’s contact-tracing effort. These areas included the bride’s family residence and the location of the wedding.

Those who were infected were either the groom’s relatives or guests at the wedding, the report said. Fifteen of  the COVID-19 positive patients are believed to have infected others. Most of them were asymptomatic.

“Even though he was feeling unwell by June 14 and wanted the wedding deferred, family heads from both sides advised against it, citing huge financial losses if the arrangements had to be [canceled],” a relative of the groom was quoted as saying.

The relatives were concerned about the groom’s high temperature but “prayed that it was not [COVID-19] infection.” After taking paracetamol, the man was able to perform all the pre-wedding traditions, another relative told the newspaper.

The groom was rushed to the hospital on June 17 as his condition worsened, but he died on the way there. The man was a software engineer and he went home to his village in Paliganj in the last week of May for the wedding. Right now, the local government’s priority is to “prevent the infection and break the chain.” Cha Lino /ra

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