Australian woman hugs strangers and shares drinks to ‘try to catch Covid’ before her wedding

‘Sucks to be a healthcare worker watching this,’ says critic, as Australia ravaged by Omicron

The TikTok user shared her video of trying to catch Covid-19 before her wedding (TikTok/ @maddysmart31)

A bride-to-be from Australia hugged strangers and shared drinks with them at a nightclub in an attempt to get infected with Covid-19 so that it doesn’t ruin her big day.

The woman shared a 15-second video of her on TikTok, where she can be seen hugging fellow revellers and swapping drinks at a club in Melbourne so that she catches the virus before her wedding in six weeks’ time.

The video, entitled “Catch Covid, not feelings” has garnered more than 121,000 views on TikTok, but the user, @maddysmart3, has now made her account private.

The would-be bride shared the post on Sunday, captioning it: “POV your wedding is in 6 weeks and you still haven’t had Covid.”

The short clip evoked mixed reactions, with some praising her attempted immunisation technique and others criticising her for flouting rules amid rising Covid-19 cases in Australia.

“Sucks to be a healthcare worker watching this,” wrote one TikTok user.

The video was posted a day before the government in Victoria announced that it would be closing all indoor dance floors for everyone except weddings from 12 January.

Australia has recorded more than 1.3 million cases since the start of the pandemic, with more than half in the past week, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Virus infections touched 1.03 million for the first time in Australia since the onset of the pandemic. New South Wales and Victoria reported about 55,000 new cases between them.

The new variant is also driving up vaccination rates in the country and forcing reinforcement of restrictions.

However, ruling out lockdowns in the future, prime minister Scott Morrison said the country would “push through” the Omicron peak.

“You’ve got two choices here. You can push through or you can get locked out. We’re for pushing through,” he said.

The prime minister added: “You get through to the other side and it’s going to be tough, the whole pandemic has been tough and Australians have shown resilience and patience and determination.”