Covering coffins with plastic, using biohazard stickers, having funeral directors wear full personal protective equipment or sanitising graves or the clothes of people attending burials are not necessary to avoid Covid-19 infection and have not been recommended by experts, the health department says.
The exception is if additional measures have been prescribed by relevant municipalities where the grave is excavated in an area with a high-water table, health department spokesperson Popo Maja said yesterday.
“Such additional measures are applicable to all burials, not only Covid-19, if the water table is too high for normal burial. The public and the industry must note that the measures prescribed are evidence-based and may change as and when new evidence is presented,” Maja added.
He said the department had received several reports of coffins, particularly of people who had succumbed to Covid-19, being wrapped with plastic.
In some cases, the bodies themselves were also wrapped and coffins marked with biohazard stickers prior to burial.
Guidance from the World Health Organisation indicates that the transmission of SARS2 from human remains to people who are alive has not been proven, Maja said.
“Therefore the department is in the process of reviewing the requirement of a body bag for burial to align to current evidence.
“Human remains can be buried either in a body bag or be wrapped in a shroud or blanket as the case may be. The body bag can be used for medical reasons or the family may decide to bury using these body bags.”
Maja said the body should only be conveyed to the deceased’s home on the day of the burial and viewing is only allowed under a controlled evironment at a mortuary or undertaker.