Kin can’t touch Covid victim’s dead body
The special committee, appointed by the state government to dispose bodies of those who died of either suspected or confirmed coronavirus, has clarified that only four members will be allowed at the cremation and that too with each maintaining a minimum distance of four metres from one another.
A dedicated Covid-19 vehicle and teams will carry bodies from the hospital to the graveyard and a wooden barricading with a rope hindering the entry of any person has been made mandatory at the burial or electric cremation site.
Family members of the deceased will not be allowed to touch the body.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) would be mandatory for the special teams constituted at all hospitals in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. The suspected or corona positive body will be dipped in sodium hypochlorite chemical (disinfection chemical) prior to shifting it in a two-level wrapping with a white cloth. A third wrap would be made with the plastic cover, which would be easy to shift the body from the hospital in a zipper bag.
At the burial site, the body will once again be dipped in disinfection chemical for electrical cremation or burial. The Covid-19 teams would be sanitised with sodium hypochlorite prior and post the final rites. A committee member told Deccan Chronicle that the same guidelines have been sent to all nodal agencies, including the four collectorates of Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, MedchalMalkajgiri and Sangareddy districts besides the GHMC zonal commissioners. He said instructions were given to major city hospitals, who have been asked to use a dedicated team and Covid19 vehicle for carrying the body. The official said that the state government has customised disposal guidelines and adapted them to local conditions. He said similar guidelines will be followed across the state and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) should be followed by the district authorities.
However, the million-dollar dilemma is that neither the GHMC nor the district authorities in the
Greater Hyderabad limits has constructed special crematoriums or burial grounds. Burying in the existing 881 graveyards would be extremely difficult since they are already running short of space even for a normal death.
On being queried, the committee member said that they would follow SOP at the place allowed for cremation or burial. The authorities are clueless about the cascading effect after burying Covid19-hit bodies.
“The ash of electric cremation is safe but we are not sure about the measures to be taken after burial in graveyards. We have not framed any guidelines. There is confusion over whether family members can collect ash post e-cremation,” the official added.