Nagaland government issues burial, cremation dos and don'ts

Dimapur, April 18 (EMN): The Nagaland government has on April 13 issued directives to Covid-19 hospitals to follow guidelines, standard operating procedure (SOP), on matters concerning dead body management issued by the ministry of Health & Family Welfare for burial of dead bodies in case of death due to Covid-19.  

A notice issued by the principal secretary of Home department, Abhijit Sinha, on April 13 directed the hospitals to designate a team of at least three people for management of the dead body. It directed the hospitals to make available sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) for the team.

The authority added that the PPE for the team should consist of N95 masks, surgical caps, protective goggles, water-resistant aprons, surgical gloves, knee-high shoes with thigh-level plastic covers in accordance with specifications.

Burial peripherals

The notification from the government further directed every hospital to keep ready an adequate number of water proof body bags. Each bag should have a zipper and should be leak-proof, it stated.

Isolation areas

Concerning isolation rooms and areas, the notification directed ‘removing all tubes, drains and catheter, disinfecting with 1% sodium hypochlorite any punctured holes or wounds on the body, placing the dead body in-leak proof plastic body bag and decontaminating it with one person hypochlorite and thereafter in a coffin and disinfecting that also, and finally sealing it.’ Paragraph 5 of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, should be strictly adhered to, the authority stated.

According to the notice, the person handling the body should possess a proper PPE kit as he has to wipe the body and keep it inside the bag and thereafter in a coffin and sealing it before the body is shifted to the mortuary or handed over to the family members for the last rites.

“A maximum of four persons (the relatives and family members) shall be allowed to view the body at the time of removal from the isolation area or room and these people should not come it direct contact with doctors, nurses and paramedical stuff of the hospital,” the notice stated.

Further, the government directed the Covid-19 Hospitals to allocate a ‘separate single room’ that can operate as a makeshift mortuary. It stated that the body shall be handed over to the families or taken to the mortuary. The room should be sprayed with disinfectants regularly to ensure it is free from infection, the directive stated.

‘In case the body of the dead, due to Covid-19, is not claimed by the family, the disposal of the body for cremation/ burial will be carried out by the NDRF, SDRF, or police after proper disinfection of the body is done and has been put in a body bag and thereafter in a coffin after following the procedures as mentioned above,” the directive stated.

Likewise, the directive stated that each Covid-19 hospital must appoint a dedicated liaison officer for the family members of a deceased that passed away due to the Covid-19. The official will act as the single point of contact. It added that the officer should also liaison with the NDRF, SDRF or police for the deceased’s last rites.

Further, the directive stated that all used or soiled linen should be handled with standard precautions, be put in biohazard bag. The outer surface must be disinfected with hypochlorite solution. It stated that the used equipment shall be autoclaved or decontaminated with disinfectant solutions in accordance with established infection prevention control practices.

In addition, the directive instructed that all medical waste must be handled and disposed off in accordance with biomedical waste management rules.

“The environmental surfaces of the mortuary, instruments and transport trolleys should be properly disinfected with 1% sodium hypochlorite. After removing the body, the chamber door, handles, and floor should be cleaned with 1% solution of sodium hypochlorite. All surfaces of the isolation area should be wiped with 1% sodium hypochlorite solution, allowed a contact time of 30 minutes, and then allowed to air dry,” the notice stated.

Transportation

The government’s notice stated that the body, secured in a body bag and disinfected and placed in a sealed coffin, again disinfected, poses no additional risk to the staff transporting the dead body. It stated that the personnel handling the body must follow standard precautions such as using surgical masks, gloves etc.

The notice has directed the hospitals in concern to decontaminate the vehicle with 1% sodium hypochlorite, after the transfer of the body to the cremation area or burial site.

At the cremation or burial ground

The notification from the government office stated that the body should not be taken out from the sealed coffin. It should only be buried or cremated along with the coffin.

“Religious rituals such as reading from religious scripts, sprinkling holy water and any other last rites that do not require touching of the coffin can be allowed,” the notice stated.

The Home department directed that gatherings at the cremation or burial ground should not be of more than 10 people. All social distancing measures should be followed at the funeral. At the same time, the notice added, the funeral or burial staff and family members should perform hand hygiene after the cremation or burial, the government stated.