10 infected in MP after funeral feast, hunt on for other guests

At least 10 people tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) after attending a mass feast in Morena—located about 465 kilometres north of Madhya Pradesh’s

At least 10 people tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) after attending a mass feast in Morena—located about 465 kilometres north of Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal—on March 20 amid fears of more likely to have been infected, district officials said.

HT Image

They contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, from a man, who works as a waiter in Dubai, said officials in Morena.

The waiter and his wife were the first to test positive for Covid-19 on Thursday after the mass feast, which was organised on March 20 because of his mother’s death. He returned home from Dubai on March 17 and organised the feast three days later, as part of the rituals of the shraddh ceremony. Up to 8,00 people are believed to have attended the feast, including his relatives, the officials said.

Though he had developed Covid-19 symptoms after he returned from Dubai, he still visited his relatives and acquaintances’ houses to invite them for the feast in line with prevailing customs.

On March 25, he and his wife visited the hospital but were admitted four days later after their condition worsened.

Initially, the couple was quarantined and they tested Covid-19 positive on Thursday. Then, 10 others, who attended the feast, also tested positive. They include the waiter’s brother, his wife, their son and daughter-in-law and their two children—a six-month-old and a three-year-old. The other four people are from the waiter’s sister’s family.

“Out of the 32 swab samples sent for Covid-19 test, 12 were found positive. All of them are undergoing treatment in hospital. We’ve put 33 people under quarantine,” said RC Bandil, chief medical and health officer (CMHO), Morena.

“The number of fresh Covid-19 positive cases is likely to be much higher. We’re trying to contact each and every person who attended the feast, or those who were invited by the waiter in person but couldn’t attend the function. It’s quite difficult to trace all those who attended the feast, or those he had invited for the occasion, because many of them have returned to their respective towns/villages. Besides, people aren’t volunteering information as they’re scared of being admitted to hospital,” said an administrative officer.