Revised guidelines for burial of Covid-19 case

LAHORE: The Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) has issued revised guidelines for the dead body preparation and burial of a COVID-19 case.

In a notification issued here on Tuesday, the department said COVID-19 is a highly transmissible disease which spreads through respiratory droplets produced during coughing, sneezing and talking of the infected person including a vast majority of asymptomatic people. The droplets may contaminate surfaces and the environment around the patient. Any individual's hands can get contaminated alter coming in contact with shared surfaces. Touching eyes, mouth and nose with contaminated hands transmits the virus to the body that affects the respiratory system.

For handling of a COVID-19 deceased, burial guidelines were issued by the department on 25.3.2020 in conformance with the Chinese experience and available WHO advisories. Since, various technical details have been updated, the following revised guidelines/SOPs are being issued on the recommendations of the Technical Working Group to substitute earlier guidelines.

Dead bodies of COVID-19 cases are generally not infectious as there is no evidence of transmission through exposure to a dead body so far. However, if the COVID-19 patient dies during the infectious period, his lungs and other organs may still contain live virus. Therefore, there is a risk of transmission from direct contact with human remains; with bodily fluids where the virus is present. The risk of transmission may be significant, but evidence is limited, so precautionary procedures should be taken.