Wedding party in Telangana turns COVID-19 cluster: 100 test positive, 4 die
Authorities in Telangana have said that 100 people tested positive for the coronavirus in a hamlet in Khammam district, after attending a wedding. Of the 100, four people have succumbed to the disease, according to reports including the bridegroom’s father. While the guest limit for weddings in Telangana as per COVID-19 restrictions is only 40 people, the Times of India reported that over 250 people attended the ceremony and 100 have tested positive. According to preliminary investigation, several COVID-19 norms were violated at the wedding like wearing of masks and maintaining physical distance.
Reports suggest that the issue came to the notice of health officials only after one of the attendees showed symptoms and got himself tested. After getting to know about the event, officials were alerted and the testing process began and medical facilities were provided to the infected people in the village, to prevent further spread. The bride and bridegroom also tested positive and are under isolation along with their family.
Despite the COVID-19 norms and lockdown in place in the state, several violations are being reported in Telangana and people are going ahead with the weddings and ceremonies with more than the permitted number of guests. A similar incident was recently reported in Hanmajipet in Nizamabad district, where about 90 guests tested positive for the coronavirus, out of nearly 400 that attended a wedding.
Meanwhile, there were 3,527 new positive cases registered in Telangana, as per a health bulletin released on Saturday (May 29). In the latest 24-hour period, 19 people have succumbed to the disease in the state. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area accounted for the most number of cases with 519, followed by Nalgonda (218) and Khammam (215), the bulletin said. The state has 37,793 active cases and the case fatality and recovery rates in the state were 0.56% and 92.81%, respectively. Meanwhile, the state government has issued a show cause notice to as many as 64 hospitals after it received complaints against them.