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Centre relaxes norms for handing over bodies of suspected Covid-19 cases to families
Union home minister Amit Shah held two meetings with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and officials of SDMA amidst a wave of Covid-19 cases in the national capital.
The Union health ministry on Sunday relaxed the guidelines on handing over the bodies of suspected Covid-19 cases to relatives for cremation. The people won’t have to wait for laboratory confirmation of the infection to get the body.
This came after Union home minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and officials of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) on Sunday. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan was also present in the meeting.
“In a letter issued by #DGHS to #Delhi Govt, guidelines on handing over of #dead bodies of suspect #COVID19 cases to relatives for #cremation have been relaxed to ensure that families do not need to wait until the result of lab report,” Vardhan tweeted.
“Please refer to the issue raised regarding deaths of suspect Covid-19 patients and bodies not being handed over to the relatives pending confirmation of test report by hospitals,” said the letter signed by Directorate General of Health Services Dr Rajiv Garg.
“I would like to clarify that the dead bodies of such suspected Covid-19 cases should be handed over to their relatives immediately and laboratory confirmation of Covid should not be awaited,” the letter addressed to Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev further said.
Vardhan also posted an official order according to which three teams have been constituted by the Centre to inspect Delhi hospitals to guide them on clinical management of Covid-19 cases.
Shah, meanwhile, also held a second meeting with mayors and commissioners of Delhi’s three municipal corporations.
The meetings come amidst a wave of cases in the national capital. Delhi recorded 2,224 cases on Sunday, the third consecutive day it has seen more than 2,000 new infections.
It ended Sunday with 41,182 infections (24,032 of them active) and 1,327 deaths. From Monday (June 8) to Sunday, the city has registered 12,246 cases. In the previous week (June 1-7), it recorded 9,092 cases. The number of containment zones in the city, meanwhile, rose from 147 on June 1 to 219 on Sunday.
