Absolute confusion prevails in funeral homes regarding the funerals of people who died with the ultimate cause of death, the coronavirus. As a result, arbitrariness is observed and everyone shakes their heads, because the relevant protocol of the Ministry of Health is not clear. In some cases, funerals of those infected with COVID-19 are performed in sealed coffins, with the bodies in sealed bags and in others not, and the protocol allows families to see the deceased. As owners of funeral homes complain to “P”, the issue is handled differently between public hospitals, where some deliver the dead who died of coronavirus only in sealed bags, while others do not. Additionally, there are funeral homes that open sacks and treat the dead at their own risk. In addition to the above, the owners of the funeral homes who are also members of the Association of Funeral Services have been trying for a year to solve the riddle of the Ministry of Health that is included in the protocol sent to them: If the family wants to see the dead – for the last The minimum safe distance of 2 meters must be observed, inter alia. “How can you see the dead man in the coffin from a distance of two meters?”, They asked “P”. Mentioning, at the same time, that the president of the Association of Funeral Services, Mr. Maro Mela, in her letter on 24/5/2021 to the Medical Services Department of the Ministry of Health, asked the specific question without receiving an answer.
In the hands of the general director of the Ministry of Health Mrs. Christina Giannaki is from yesterday's complaint of the AKEL MP Mrs. Irini Charalambidou, according to which the family of a person who died of COVID-19 infection was not allowed to see his body, which was placed in bag and in a sealed coffin.
The protocol
According to funeral home owners, the last written instructions given to the 16 licensed funeral homes by the Department of Medical Services of the Ministry of Health for the management of corpses of patients who ended up with coronavirus were on 14/5/2021. The first paragraph of the protocol states verbatim: “All potentially dead bodies may be contagious. “Although most pathogens are not transmitted from the dead to healthy people, some of them can be transmitted through contact with biological fluids or tissues of the dead body.” After leaving open the possibility of transmitting the coronavirus from dead bodies, the following instructions are given to the funeral homes:
- Those who die of COVID-19 infection are buried in accordance with the applicable decrees regarding the limited number of attendees and the observance of the minimum safe distances between them (& gt; 2m), the use of a mask and other measures of protection of public health.
- The deceased is placed in a coffin after being covered with a sheet soaked in antiseptic solution, which is not opened afterwards. Regarding the placement of the deceased in a durable waterproof zippered bag, the World Health Organization does not consider it necessary, unless there are other reasons (eg large leakage of body fluids). If a bag is used, its outer surface must be disinfected.
- If the family wishes, they can see the deceased without touching or kissing him, always observing the basic precautions, including hand hygiene.
We do not risk our health
“Since there is no question of transmission of the coronavirus by those who die due to the disease, then why do they deliver the bodies to us in closed bags? And why should we open them? “If there was no risk of transmitting the coronavirus, would they put them in bags?”, Owners of funeral offices asked “P”. Complaining to us that in the public hospitals of Nicosia and Limassol they receive the dead who died of coronavirus in bags, in the hospital of Larnaca in some cases in bags and in others not, while for the hospital of Famagusta they claimed that they never received in a bag. Responding to the reactions of relatives who do not see their dead, they said that once they receive the dead in sacks from the morgues, they themselves do not risk opening them and treating the dead, although this is financially advantageous to them. “We do not risk our own health, nor that of our family members. “Let them give us written assurances that the coronavirus is not transmitted by the dead,” they said.
At our suggestion that they could open the bag in which COVID-19 victims are placed so that their families can see them and say goodbye, our funeral home owners reiterated that they do not risk it. Unlike other funeral home owners who interpret the protocol differently, considering that they can open the bags to show the face of the deceased from the coffin.
The complaint and the question < On the issue, Ms. Charalambidou sent the following question through the parliamentary channel the day before yesterday: "Please inform the Minister of Health about the protocols in force for the last two months in relation to the delivery of bodies of persons who have died of COVID-19. We have received a shocking complaint from relatives of a person who died a week ago with COVID-19 and was buried on 19/4/2022. According to the relatives, the coffin was not only sealed but they also did not have the opportunity to see through the glass the face of the deceased and to confirm his identity. The justification from the funeral home was that everything was done according to the current protocol. Please tell us what really applies in these cases. "
