Bride, groom, and 41 others at Kerala wedding function test COVID-19 positive

Guwahati: A wedding celebration in the Kasargod district of Kerala went awry after 43 attendees (including the bride and groom) tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus.

Taking cognizance of the matter, the Kasargod district authority has filed a case in this regard. The Badiyudukka police have registered a case against the bride's father under Kerala Epidemic Diseases ordinance 2020.

According to reports, the wedding was held on July 17 Pilankatta in Chengala panchayat in Kasaragod. Soon after, it came to light that 43 persons involved in the wedding, including the bride and the groom, were positive for the deadly contagion.

Meanwhile, the district collector has asked people who had attended the marriage function to stay in home quarantine and to contact the nearest health centre if symptoms develop. The total number of active COVID-19 virus cases rose to 9,655 after 927 new cases and two deaths were reported in Kerala on Sunday.

As per a recent Kerala Government order in view of the ongoing pandemic situation in the country, wedding ceremonies can only be attended by up to 50 people and funerals by 20.

It needs mention here that the Kasargod wedding is hardly the first instance of a wedding that has turned into a breeding ground of the easily transmissible virus.

In June, at least 90 people who were part of a wedding in Paliganj in Patna, Bihar, have tested COVID-19 positive. Even more shockingly, the 30-year-old groom died just 2 days after the marriage function took place.

The groom, who was a software engineer working in a Gurugram company, was cremated without testing for the virus, even though he had shown symptoms associated with the respiratory illness. His family had reportedly cremated him without informing authorities.

As soon as the news of the groom's death was conveyed to the district administration of Patna, the people who were close to the couple were tested for COVID-19 and 15 people who were a part of the function tested positive. This alarmed the district administration, who initiated the contact tracing process. At the end of the ordeal, as many as 80 more people had tested positive for the contagious disease.

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