How to handle Covid-19 patient body Cremation of the 57-year-old man from Dum Dum done by following all rules of the health ministry

Monalisa Chaudhuri , TT, 24.03.20, Calcutta: The body of the 57-year-old man from Dum Dum, who became the first person in Bengal to die after being infected with Covid-19, was taken for cremation following all rules of the health ministry, state health department officials said.

Guidelines issued by the Union health ministry says: “There is unlikely to be an increased risk of Covid infection from a dead body to health workers or family members who follow standard precautions while handling body.”

The 57-year-old was admitted to a private hospital in Salt Lake. Officials said the body was kept in the hospital mortuary in a coffin wrapped in prescribed materials.

Police said post-mortem was not performed because the cause of death was known and to rule out chances of further spread of infection.

The guidelines issued by the health ministry for preservation of the body of a Covid-19 patient and the last rites mentions the following

• Hand hygiene and use of personal protective equipment like water resistant apron, gloves, masks and eye wear by body carriers
• Disinfection of bag in which the body has been kept and linen
• All tubes, drains and catheters attached to the body should be removed
• Any puncture holes or wounds (resulting from removal of catheter, drains, tubes, or otherwise) should be disinfected with one per cent hypochlorite and dressed with impermeable material
• Oral, nasal orifices of the body should be plugged to prevent body fluid leakage
• nIf patient’s family wishes to see the body at the time of removal from the isolation room or area, they may be allowed to do so with standard precautions
• Body needs to be kept in a leak-proof plastic body bag. The exterior of the body bag can be decontaminated with one per cent hypochlorite. The body bag can be wrapped in a mortuary sheet or sheet provided by family members.
• All used/soiled linen should be handled with standard precautions and put in bio-hazard bag. The outer surface of the bag must be disinfected with hypochlorite solution
• The health staff who handle the body will remove personal protective equipment and will perform hand hygiene
• Bodies should be stored in cold chambers maintained at approximately 4°C in the mortuary
• The mortuary must be kept clean
• After removing the body, the chamber door, handles and floors should be cleaned with one per cent sodium hypochlorite solution
• Embalming of body should not be allowed.
• Autopsies on Covid-19 bodies should be avoided
• Body secured in a body bag, the exterior of which is decontaminated, poses no additional risk to the staff transporting it
• Personnel handling the body may follow standard precautions (surgical mask, gloves)
• After the body is transferred to cremation/burial staff, the vehicle will be decontaminated with 1% sodium hypochlorite solution
• Bathing or any form of physical contact with the body should not be allowed.
• The ash does not pose any risk and can be collected
• Large gathering at the crematorium/burial ground should be avoided as a social distancing measure because it is possible that close family contacts may be symptomatic and/ or shedding the virus.