Cremation and burial grounds adding to COVID caseload as covid patients being cremated in non-covid zones

Are the Cremation grounds turning out to be the `super spreader’ of corona infection?  There are reports that many covid patients, who fail to get treatment and die at the door steps of the hospitals, are cremated as non-covid bodies without any covid protocol and this is adding to the caseload.

But there is a section of doctors who believe that corona does not spread through dead bodies and thus the guidelines for cremation or burial should be withdrawn by the ICMR.

King George’s Medical University has found that every third person who attended cremation or went to cremation ground has shown covid like symptoms. Majority of the people claim that they had gone for cremation of a person whose covid status was not known because the family did not get the patient tested.

“This ignorance is adding to the caseload. People believe that the person is non–covid whereas he might have died of covid and family did not know because they had not got the tests done,” Dr R K Sharga said.

In the last one week a survey was carried out and out of 800 covid positive people, 268 had gone to cremation/burial ground in the last week of manifestation of their symptoms. They all had gone to attend the cremation/burial  of non-covid person.

Rajendra Karan had covid like symptoms but his family did not get the test done. On Wednesday, when he complained about breathlessness he was taken to the hospital but he was denied admission because he did not have a referral slip from CMO. He died waiting for the slip.  His family cremated him as non-covid patient.

In another case, A seventy year old man had fever and he suddenly collapsed. He was taken to the hospital where doctors said that he was dead. The relatives took the body for cremation and there was no Covid test performed to confirm whether he was suffering from Covid or not.

A sixty year old woman who faced an attack of breathlessness was rushed to the hospital but she passed away soon after she reached the hospital. A relative confirmed that no Covid test was done and the body was cremated in a non Covid manner when there was all likelihood that she had died due to Covid.

Doctors in the city say  that there is a possibility that Covid bodies are being cremated  in a Non Covid manner which can result in the further spread of the infection.

“There is no concrete proof that dead bodies can spread corona. The research on coronavirus is still in infancy stage.  So far, we know that infection spreads through air. If the government has information it should do away with the guidelines on cremation and burial,” Dr D P Mishra, a retired doctor, said.

The covid bodies are cremated under a set protocol where only two relatives are allowed entry in the cremation grounds. They are made to wear PPE kits. The place is sanitized on an hourly basis.

Giving details of the  specific manner in which covid positive bodies are prepared for cremation and burial, Dr Tanmay Ghatak from the SGPGI said that the bodies are wiped with one per cent sodium hypochlorite solution. These are then put in special body bags and if there is no body bag then they are put in those bags in which the organs are disposed off .

He said that RTPCR tests can be done on a dead body if there is a suspicion that the person has died of Covid.  “There is a possibility that those who are suffering from COVID-19 are being given a Non Covid cremation because people may be dying at home and no one may have gone for a Covid test . This is a pandemic situation and this is a possibility that all COVID-19 patients are not detected,” he said.

He said that one should be very careful while attending the funeral and wear masks and gloves even if they are attending the funeral of a non covid body.