A total of 400 guests were evaluated after the wedding, which took place two weeks ago in Paliganj in Bihar state, said Kishore Chaudhary, Patna’s medical director.
Those who tested positive were taken to a local treatment center, Chaudhary told CNN on Thursday.
The groom was ill before the wedding on June 15, according to Surendra Kumar, a district official in Paliganj, and his condition was worsening.
He had traveled from Gurgaon, in the northern state of Haryana, for the wedding, Kumar told CNN. The distance between the two cities is over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) by road.
The family took him to a local doctor where they gave him medications, but the doctor did not report his symptoms to district authorities and he was not tested for coronavirus, Kumar said. “The family did not tell anyone about his poor health,” he said.
The man’s condition deteriorated after the wedding and the family took him to a nearby hospital, but he collapsed on the way and was pronounced dead on arrival, Kumar added.
Investigations to determine how many people attended the wedding, and trace their contacts, are ongoing, Kumar said.
“The 80 people who tested positive were not essentially at the wedding,” he said. “Some of them came into contact with the guests and contracted the virus.”
There have been 10,249 cases of coronavirus in Bihar state and 70 deaths, according to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Over the weekend, the government opened one of the world’s largest hospitals to help fight coronavirus, after health authorities announced the largest one-day increase in the number of new infections in the country.
The COVID Sardar Patel Service Center in New Delhi is the largest facility of its kind in India, with 10,000 beds.
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