A hundred people have tested positive for the new coronavirus in India after having participated, a few days apart, in the marriage and then the funeral of a young man who may have contracted COVID-19, a local medical official said on Wednesday .
A total of more than 400 people participated in the state of Bihar in the marriage on June 15 of a young man of 26 years presenting symptoms identical to those of the new coronavirus, and in his consequent funeral after his death two days later.
“So far 111 people, who have either participated in the wedding or the funeral, have tested positive. All the others have been identified and placed in solitary confinement, “Raj Kishor Chaudhary, chief medical officer in Patna, the regional capital of Bihar, told AFP.
Authorities have set up a special camp to test those present at the two rallies after an outbreak in the village concerned. An investigation was opened against the groom’s family.
Doctors do not know if the latter was the source of the contamination, his body having been promptly cremated by his family before he was tested. None of his relatives, including his new wife, tested positive.
The computer engineer from Guargaon, a satellite city in the capital New Delhi, returned home just a week before the wedding and suffered from fever and diarrhea, said Raj Kishor Chaudhary.
He was briefly hospitalized, but his family managed to bring him home after taking medication and celebrated his marriage to 300 guests.
The groom died at his home two days later. Nearly 200 people attended his funeral.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic still raging in the country, India limits marriages to 50 people, and funerals to 20 people. The South Asian giant has so far recorded 17,400 coronavirus deaths for 585,493 reported cases, figures which are increasing rapidly.
New Delhi lifted the severe confinement in place from late March to early June, but restrictions remain. Prime Minister Narendra Modi castigated Tuesday the release of his compatriots in the face of the health crisis.
“We have become careless with physical distancing, wearing a mask or frequent hand washing,” said the Hindu nationalist leader during a televised address to the nation.
“I am calling on you again to take the same precautions as during confinement,” he said.
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