Explainer: COVID-19 Dead Body Management – India & World
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 15, 2020
The global death toll due to COVID-19 crossed 1.2 lakh. Some countries are grappling with thousands of infected dead bodies as governments across the world have issued detailed guidelines to deal with the dead bodies. Here is an explainer on these guidelines in India & few other countries.
Most healthauthorities around the globe have released their own set of guidelinesregarding dead body management of COVID-19 positives. They are mostly the samewith some minor variations. Cremation has been suggested as the safest way forlast rites, instead of burial. However, guidelines for burials are alsooutlined.
Guidelines
by GoI and AIIMS
On 15 March 2020, the Government of India released the guidelines for dead body management for COVID-19 including management of bodies in hospital, autopsy, and burial/cremation.  Main highlights of the guidelines are:
1.Removal of the body from the isolation room or area
2. Handling of dead body in Mortuary
3. Autopsies on COVID-19 dead bodies
4.Transportation
5.At the crematorium/Burial Ground
The AIIMS Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, New Delhi, has alsoreleased its own set of guidelines. They are mostly the same as GoI guidelinesand have some additional points too. In order to ensure safety, they havesuggested that it is best to cremate all bodies in electric or gascrematoriums, keeping the body in the body bag. And if burial is to be done,for religious or personal beliefs, the body should be placed in a thick andair-tight coffin at a depth of four to six meters in the ground. The area ofthe grave should be cemented immediately and precautions should be followedafterwards to avoid scavenging by animals.
In addition to this, the Central Pollution Control Board
(CPCB),has released guidelines for handling, treatment and safe disposal ofbiomedical waste generated during treatment, diagnosis and quarantine ofpatients confirmed or suspected to have the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Guidelines
by Indian States
All Indian stateshave issued orders to follow the GoI guidelines. Some states have released moredetailed guidelines, such as:
State of Telangana outlined measures toensure preparedness of government and private hospitals dealing with COVI-19 casualtiesand handling of family and relatives. The guidelines have specified the numberof people who can be allowed for viewing of deceased body (up to 5 people at atime) and during last rites (up to 5 people allowed).
Telangana also outlined how to handle family ofdeceased persona and directed hospitals to appoint a dedicated  COVID liaison Officer for this purpose.
State of Punjab outlined the chain of responsibilities in case of death in GovernmentMedical Colleges and other Isolation Centres.
Punjab’s notificationalso outlined the role of local District Administration with respect to helpingthe deceased person’s relatives during last rites and procedure to be followedin case of unclaimed bodies.
Guidelines
by World Health Organisation
Apart from similar measures mentioned above, World Health Organisation also outlined thefollowing with respect to the last rites of deceased patients, such as:
European Union and US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention have released similar guidelines for management of COVID dead body management.
Practices around the world
Nations around the world are still grappling with thebest ways to manage the dead body of COVID-19 patients. A few excerpts gainedlight such as:
Featured Image: COVID-19 Dead Body Management