Time and tide wait for none, not even coronavirus. And this prompted Abhirami to don her PPE kit instead of the traditional bridal wear and tie the nuptial knot with her covid-infected beau as the families did not want to skip the auspicious 'muhurtham.'

The young bride got hitched in a hospital ward in a small ceremony at a time when covid cases are spiralling in the southern state. ''Muhurtham' is the auspicious time fixed for weddings and other new initiatives. With the Personal Protection Kit (PPE) replacing the traditional silk saree and other wedding paraphernalia, the 23-year-old bride married the virus-positive groom, admitted to a government hospital in the coastal Alappuzha district.

Abhirami, a native of Thekkan Aryad here, donned the disposable wear and get married at a COVID ward of the Alappuzha Vandanam medical college on Sunday. Marking the ritual, the groom, Sarathmon S, tied 'thali', the mangal sutra, and garlanded her with a simple tulsi garland in the presence of his mother, also covid positive and another close relative of the bride at a special room in the ward.

Fixed a year ago, the wedding happened on Sunday, after permission from authorities.

Sarathmon, working in the Gulf, and his mother Jijimol had been admitted to the hospital recently after they tested positive for the virus. Though he had placed himself in quarantine after arriving here from the Middle East for the wedding and showed no symptoms for the initial 10 days, the two developed breathing difficulty on Wednesday evening. They tested positive for the virus at a private hospital at Thathampally and were later shifted to the COVID ward of the medical college, family sources said. As both the families wanted to carry out the wedding ritual on the pre-fixed 'muhurtham' (auspicious time of a day), they approached the authorities with the request to get married at the hospital itself. Both the district collector and hospital authorities granted permission for the function adhering to strict COVID protocols.

In compliance with the health department guidelines, the bride was asked to wear the PPE kit and directed that only one or two relatives should attend the wedding. After the function, Abhirami went back to her uncle's house while Sarathmon continued his stay in the hospital. The couple would begin a new life after the groom turned COVID negative, family sources added.