COVID-19: Meghalaya govt issues guidelines for the disposal of dead bodies; Details here

Shillong: Amid a soaring number of COVID-19 cases across India, the Meghalaya government today issued a number of guidelines for the disposal of dead bodies of COVID-19 suspects or confirmed cases of the virus. These shall be in accordance with the guidelines/protocol issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As per a notification issued by the state government, the rules for handling the dead bodies are as follows:

All present at the cremation/burial ground site will practice standard precautions of  hand hygiene,  use of surgical masks and gloves.

Large gathering at the crematorium or burial ground should be avoided as a social distancing measure as it is possible that close family contacts may be symptomatic and/or shedding the virus.

Viewing of the dead body by unzipping the face end of the body bag (by those performing the burial/cremation using standard precautions) maybe allowed, for the relatives to see the body for one last time.

Religious rituals such as reading from religious scripts, sprinkling holy water and any other last rites that does not require touching of the body  can be allowed.

Bathing, kissing, hugging, etc. of the dead body should not be allowed.

The funeral/ burial staff or volunteers and family members should perform hand hygiene after cremation/ burial.

The depth of the burial grave should be about 6ft

If cremated, the ashes do not pose any risk and can be collected to perform the last rites.

The vehicle, after the transfer of the body to cremation/ burial staff, will need to be decontaminated with 1% Sodium Hypochlorite (available in Pharmacies). This can also be safely done by those who carry the dead body.

It needs mention here that so far, Meghalaya has witnessed 82 deaths related to the COVID-19.

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