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Covid-19 cadavers don’t spread infection; just follow guidelines, say Pune doctors
Guidelines have been issued by Poona Citizen Doctor Forum and Prayas health group
With Pune’s Covid-19 death toll reaching 100 on Saturday, the Poona Citizen Doctor Forum and Prayas health group have sought to create awareness among the public about the precautions that need to be taken by healthcare personnel and relatives of the victim while handling the dead bodies.
“It has been observed that due to misinformation, relatives are not coming forward to perform the last rites of the patient and due to this the civic staff has to step in. According to the guidelines by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Covid-19 is a respiratory disease and the spread stops when the patient dies. The only safety measure that needs to be observed is to stay away from the viruses present on the body surface and secretions from nose, mouth,” the press note released by five doctors states.
Dr Vinay Kulkarni (Prayas Health Group), Dr Anant Phadke, Dr Arun Gadre, Dr Sharda Bapat and Dr Shriram Geet, all from the Poona Citizen Doctor Forum, have issued detailed guidelines for relatives and healthcare workers.
According to their guidelines, for healthcare workers, mortuary staff and others directly handling bodies, these standard precautions involve wearing protective gear like gloves and masks, maintaining good hand hygiene and sanitising everything that the body has touched. For family members, priests and mourners, they involve not touching the body, wearing basic protective gear, and not gathering in groups to pray.
“Relatives attending the funeral must wear masks, wash hands, wear gloves, maintain six feet distance, shower when you get home and immerse your clothes in soap water. The virus cannot survive in the ashes after cremation or in the soil where the corpse is buried. Hence, there is no need to spray disinfectant on the ashes or the place of burial. The fear will eventually go away,” added Dr Kulkarni.
Precautions taken by PMC
Dr Kalpana Baliwant from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) health department said, “We are taking all the precautionary. There is no post-mortem, and the body is sprayed with disinfectants before being wrapped in cloth and then placed inside a zipped plastic bag. The entire procedure post declared dead, takes two hours.”
PMC has also authorised two NGO’s to help in burying the dead as many of the relatives refuse to touch or even take the body. “With the numbers increasing, we have sought help of the NGO Muslim Popular Front of India and Mulniwasi Muslim Manch to help our staff in the designated burial grounds,” she added.
Designated cremation grounds in Pune
Electrical crematorium - Kailash Smshanbhoomi
Gas Crematoruim - Aundh, Mundhwa, Vaikunth and Katraj
Burial grounds- Ramtekdi, Katraj, Kondhwa, Tilekarnagar, Gunjan Talkies Kabrastan, Naidu hospital, Bopodi, Sutarwadi Masjid, Khanewasti road, Ramnagar, Rahimat Baug, Salisbury Park
