A groom has reportedly died with over 100 wedding guests infected with the deadly coronavirus after more than 360 people attending an Indian wedding in Paliganj, OYOGist.com has gathered.
The groom, a 30-year-old software developer, who lived in Dehli, had been dubbed a “Super-spreader” by the media.
He had initially requested to post-pone the planned wedding after suspecting that he had fallen ill, but members of his family turned down the request, citing expenses uncured over the wedding.
An Indian outlet, Hindustan Times, reported that the man developed diarrhea and a high fever before the wedding that was slated for June 15. But, when he brought this to the attention of his family, they allegedly made him take painkillers and pushed for the wedding to continue as planned.
The groom, however, got worse and died on his way to the hospital, Hindustan Times reported. His corpse was cremated without a coronavirus test done.
Following his death, his family members were tested for the virus on June 19, with 15 of them confirmed to be positive.
To curb further spread of the virus, a camp was prepared and other wedding guests were traced and tested. 86 of them testing positive to the coronavirus.
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The officials revealed, however, that the bride tested negative.
“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 said to Hindustan Times.
According to another relative who tested negative, no one suspected that the groom had COVID-19.
“As rural areas are almost COVID-free, we were relaxed,” the relative told the news outlet.
“By the day of the wedding, he was running a high temperature, raising some concerns among his relatives, who “prayed that it was not COVID infection,” the relative said.
“He performed all the pre-wedding functions after taking Paracetamol,” he added, referring to the brand name for over-the-counter acetaminophen.
Community official Chiranjeev Pandey said: “Our first priority now is to prevent the infection and break the chain. We have sealed parts of the neighboring Meetha Kuan, Khagari and some parts of the sub-urban marketplace of Paliganj.”
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