People planning to perform marriages or family functions are in a state of confusion over increasing COVID-19 cases in Visakhapatnam. Many are in fear that attending a function or even a birthday party could even lead to contracting virus.
According to the COVID-19 protocol, not more than 50 persons are allowed to attend any marriage or family functions. While a few people have postponed marriages to next year, some are organising in the presence of their beloved ones only.
With gradual increase in the cases, people say that conducting a marriage and inviting people from various places could lead them into trouble. In a recent case in Jaipur in Rajasthan, a man was fined ₹6 lakh for conducting his son’s wedding violating COVID-19 norms, resulting in death of one person and over a dozen attendees getting infected. Moreover there are number of incidents of people getting infected with coronavirus after attending functions.
“Hundreds of people from a few regions of East Godavari district are believed to have contracted virus after attending marriages where norms were flouted. Though we follow norms by inviting just 50 people, we feel it is not the good time to organise a function,” said G. Gopi, who postponed his marriage to November this year.
There are people like Hari Satyanarayan, who have decided to perform marriage next year, anticipating more relaxations and decline in COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile in case of functions which cannot be postponed, people are conducting following norms. R. Ramudu, a resident of Murali Nagar. organised his daughter’s maternity function on June 23 in a function hall, after the function which was scheduled to be held on March 26 got cancelled due to the lockdown. He said that he went to police station and informed about the function. The police reportedly told him that no permission letter is required, but it is mandatory to take all precautions.
“We made sure only our close relatives attend the function, so the count did not cross 50. Chairs were arranged with a distance of two-metre each. Right at the reception, we arranged sanitiser and masks, though everyone brought their own masks,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law & Order - 1) Aishwarya Rastogi said that it is recommended to intimate the police personnel in case of any function where more than five persons could be attending. If some police pass through the area, when they come and enquire, the family may feel uncomfortable.
“Again it is the responsibility of the applicant as well as management of the function hall to make sure all the precautions are followed,” he said.
The DCP also said that if public violate the norms, then action will be taken on the responsible as per the protocol.