Heading to some party or ceremony in Mumbai? Get your Covid-negative report ready

Headed to a birthday bash or an engagement ceremony? Make sure you have proof you're Covid-negative before you land up. Not only are hosts insisting on RT-PCR tests for attendees, some are even particular about the labs for getting the test done, while others reconfirm results with the lab to ensure there has been no tampering.

As Covid cases dropped, people assumed the pandemic was tapering off and went back to planning their grand shindig, only to find they had acted too soon. "For my daughter's roka, we asked everyone who was attending to get tested two days before the event and send us the certificates," said Liku Colombowala, an entrepreneur from Powai. The venue did not demand a copy of the RT-PCR certificate, though. "We did it for everyone's safety since people of different age groups were attending. Everyone co-operated."

Like the Colombowalas who planned the engagement when cases had dropped and did not see the surge coming, the Patils of Wadala too were in a quandary as they had a double celebration lined up- their father's 75th birthday and the daughter-in-law's 50th birthday bash. "Both share their birthday on March 3, and they were milestone events. We booked the venue in the last week of January when all newspapers had flashed news of India recording less than 10,000 new cases, and the lowest daily tally as compared to the past eight months," said Vaibhav Patil, an HR executive.


Little did they know about the case spike ahead. "We were not sure about going ahead with the celebration, but then decided to follow our cousin's advice who had requested his wedding guests to get an RT-PCR test done. We requested outstation relatives to join us virtually. Those residing in the city were asked to undergo fresh RT-PCR tests as many guests were senior citizen friends of my father," he added.

While pathology laboratories do not seek the reason for a test, Dr Nilesh Shah, president of a chain of labs, said, "Avoidable gatherings like birthday parties should be deferred or made virtual. Getting the RT-PCR tests done for guests has several drawbacks. It overloads the system that leads to inconvenience for genuinely ill patients. Moreover, it inconveniences people. For gatherings that are must, one can use a combination of a few guests coming physically and the rest can join virtually."