Groom whose wedding sparked 100 coronavirus cases reveals dad’s final words

Groom Manoli said his father, who tested positive for COVID-19 two days after the wedding, told him to “be strong”.

The couple, Betty and Manoli, held their now infamous wedding at Oyster Cove restaurant and bar on March 21, two days before the New Zealand government announced a nationwide Level Four lockdown. The event led to a large outbreak of coronavirus cases among guests with almost 100 people becoming infected.

“It was an amazing day with all our family around us,” Betty told Newshub in a new documentary Patrick Gower: On Lockdown. “Then it all changed.”

Manoli’s father Chrisanthos Tzanoudakis, originally from Greece, had been living in Wellington for 50 years. He owned a fish and chip shop and worked on the wharves. Chrisanthos had planned to return to Greece after the wedding. But within days of the wedding, a guest tested positive for COVID-19. Manoli and Betty then also tested positive.

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Everybody in New Zealand has heard of the “Bluff Wedding” or the “Bluff Couple”. Well they have names, and they are Betty and Manoli. They are more than a headline. Proud to bring their story tonight in “On Lockdown”. pic.twitter.com/hcpzU5DgWD— Patrick Gower (@patrickgowernz) August 31, 2020

The couple said a guest rang them days after the wedding to say he had tested positive.

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“One of the guests rang me to ask how we were,” said Betty. “He said that he was unwell and had been tested for COVID-19 and was positive.”

The number of people linked to the wedding who have tested positive has now grown to 98 — and two people have died, including Manoli’s father Chrisanthos.

Chrisanthos was hospitalised the Thursday after the wedding.

“He got rushed to hospital. He was going up and down, and then he started deteriorating,” Manoli said. He said his father was given an oxygen mask, but kept trying to remove it because he was in so much pain.

His father said to him in Greek, “be strong, and we will get through it”. They were the last words he uttered before dying on April 10 — just 20 days after the wedding.

According to 9 News one of their guests — a flight attendant — has been identified as the source of the outbreak.

It’s believed they brought the virus into the country from overseas.

Manoli said in the report he doesn’t blame his father’s death on anyone — he only blames the virus.

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