You do not get Covid-19 from a dead body, stupid!

COVID 19 is rampaging through the land and killing people, but for goodness’ sake let no one make the situation any worse than it already is by spreading fear and despondency among the populace.

e recent statement by the government that bereaved families will no longer be allowed to ferry the bodies of their dear deceased to bury them where they wish is one such announcement that creates this feeling that Covid-19 is a pestilence that’s almost like an extraterrestrial invasion that totally disrupts our lives.

e directive that where families are allowed to move the cadaver to their preferred places of burial, most likely in their rural homes, they should carry them “hermetically sealed in a triple coffin” is nothing, but sheer scaremongering. Hermetically sealed probably just means airtight, but it’s difficult to imagine what a triple coffin looks like -- it must be the size of a minibus!

Basic science says one cannot get Covid-19 from a corpse. According to Dr Faheem Younus, head of Infectious Diseases Clinic, University of Maryland, US: “ e Covid-19 virus does not fly through the air. is is a respiratory drop infection that requires close contact.”

e government of New South Wales, Australia, only last month issued guidance on how to handle Covid-19 victims. It said: “ e virus is spread through contact with contaminated respiratory droplets released when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or from contact with contaminated hands, surfaces or objects. Funeral directors and mortuary personnel are less likely to contract Covid-19 from deceased persons infected with the virus if they adopt appropriate infection prevention and control procedures and wear appropriate PPE. e greatest risk is likely to come from contact with family members.” (Emphasis mine)

e scaremongering emanating from government, which should know better, is causing more problems than it’s trying to solve. According to e Hindu newspaper, when the populace is scared, doctors and healthcare workers are mistrusted and harassed while sick people are deserted at a time when they need care most. Funerals, which ordinarily should be solemn affairs, get disrupted by mechanical people with not a jot of empathy.

e paper says: “However, a dead body often has fluids like saliva, phlegm, and blood oozing out and those could be a source of virus. is is the reason why there are clear national guidelines on how to handle dead bodies. Currently, funerals are largely the work of trained professionals who themselves are protected by PPE. Relatives are allowed to see the dead with adequate protection but touching/ hugging/kissing is not allowed.” (Emphasis mine) is is all our government has to tell the people.

Be happy

IT is important that everybody understands and gets used to the new normal. Covid in its various strains will be with us for a long time to come so we better adjust. Dr Younus says: “Let’s not deny it or panic. Let’s not make life unnecessarily difficult. Let us learn to be happy and live with that fact.”

Death is a rite of passage and over millennia different communities have evolved ways of resting their dead. Most of the ways so developed are interlinked with the communities’ religious beliefs. To abruptly change a community’s religious belief systems is to destroy that community. So let people bury their dead the way their religious beliefs dictate they should and also where they believe they should be buried.

A community in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, was forced to bury their dead sealed in plastic against their long-held beliefs. According to reports, some families are exhuming the bodies of their loved ones and removing the plastic wrap from the coffin, claiming that their spirits are not resting well due to the wrapping on coffins.

“One family who asked to remain anonymous confirmed that they dug their member, saying he has been visiting them through dreams complaining about the heat that is caused by the plastic.”

is could be laughed off as an extreme case of superstition but who is not superstitious? Zimbabweans too believe that the spirits of their departed dwell for some time in the grave with the body and that they eventually leave to join the spirits of their forebears. Zimbabweans therefore can also object to their deceased being sealed in airtight plastic.

Uganda poll

THE United States embassy in Uganda withdrew its observer mission to that country’s elections held yesterday; good sign, perhaps the US will now impose sanctions on Uganda and its strongman Yoweri Museveni. In cancelling its mission the embassy said its observers had been refused accreditation concluding that the “vote would lack accountability and transparency”. It said while previous elections have been marred by crackdowns on the opposition, campaigning this time had been particularly violent. Scores of people were killed and opposition candidates, supporters and campaign staff repeatedly arrested and intimidated.

e US government saw this about Zimbabwe’s elections 20 years ago and imposed sanctions through Zidera. But many have asked if the situation in Uganda regarding elections was any different from the Zimbabwean one. Recently all foreign correspondents who have interviewed Museveni have asked him about Robert Mugabe implying that the Ugandan leader has become a Mugabe incarnate.

Opposition politicians in Zimbabwe must have wondered why the US has not come strongly against Museveni and in support of his biggest challenger, the youthful Bobi Wine.

But the situation is not a simple and straightforward as it looks. Museveni has been a US ally from as far back as one cares to remember. e US says Uganda has been a reliable partner in promoting stability in the Horn and East/ Central Africa and in combating terror, particularly through its contribution to the African Union Mission in Somalia.

On its website the embassy says the US provides significant development and security assistance to Uganda, with a total assistance budget exceeding $970 million per year. e US government plays a key role in supporting the professionalisation of the military; providing anti-retroviral treatment for more than 990 000 HIV-positive Ugandans; and working to boost economic growth and agricultural productivity, improve educational and health outcomes, and support democratic governance through inclusive, accountable institutions. e US mission is working with the Government of Uganda to improve tax collection and oil revenue management, and to increase Uganda’s domestic funding for public services and the national response to HIV and Aids.

Uganda is eligible for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. US exports to Uganda include machinery, optical and medical instruments, wheat, and aircraft. US imports from Uganda include coffee, cocoa, base metals, and fish. e United States has committed to signing trade and investment framework agreements with the East African Community and with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. Uganda is a member of both regional organisations.

e United States has security and economic interests in Uganda. “Uganda has been a major shock absorber of the conflicts and the problems in its neighbourhood.”

It is clear therefore that Museveni is too important an ally of the US for it to ditch him now. It won’t be to US strategic interests for Museveni to lose this election; Bobi Wine should get this into his head.

“Funeral directors and mortuary personnel are less likely to contract Covid-19 from deceased persons infected with the virus if they adopt appropriate infection prevention and control procedures and wear appropriate PPE. e greatest risk is likely to come from contact with family members.”