Latest News | People More Open to Attending Weddings; Fewer People Consider Risk of COVID to Be High: LocalCircles

New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) The number of people likely to attend an engagement or wedding is expected to rise significantly during November-December as compared to the year-ago period, with fewer people now considering the risk of COVID to be high in attending such events, a survey by LocalCircles said on Monday.

The findings of the survey based on over 17,000 responses indicate that 6 in 10 Indian families are likely to attend engagements and weddings this November-December period.

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This is a 3X rise in the number of people likely to attend an engagement or wedding during the period, and this rise can be attributed to the declining cases of COVID across the country, the vaccination giving people a sense of confidence and COVID fatigue in general, the survey said.

When citizens were asked a similar question during 2020 around similar time, 35 per cent of citizens had said "they were invited to attend but taking a pass this year due to COVID".

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This percentage has seen a drastic decrease in 2021, with only 12 per cent saying that they were invited but taking a pass due to COVID.

To a question on COVID risk associated with attending such events, 76 per cent respondents planning to attend engagements and weddings during the period believe the risk of COVID spread is average, low or non-existent. About 3 per cent said "there is no risk", while 2 per cent did not have an opinion.

Twenty two per cent citizens consider the risk of COVID from weddings and engagements to be high. This question in the survey received 8,758 responses.

Responses from citizens across 319 districts were received. About 48 per cent respondents were from tier I, 29 per cent from tier II, and 23 per cent from tier III, IV and rural districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform.

"Some experts in different LocalCircles have suggested a safe practice for organisers and attendees of weddings to be followed like holding the weddings and engagement events as much outdoor as possible, avoiding buffets and bar setups and having sit down dinners or drinks with a set place for each guest with their name tags," it said adding that masks and sanitisers should be furnished to every guest if they are not carrying one.

Other suggestions included minimising the singing or music events indoors or keeping them outdoors and limiting the time of the actual wedding ceremony to one hour. Similarly, local administrators must also keep a watch on the daily caseload, the compliances to wedding guidelines and update rules accordingly if the daily caseloads rise to address the situation, it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)