COVID Patient’s Body To Be Handed Over To Family For Cremation In Rajasthan

Rajasthan Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma said that COVID test should be done only for those who have died of influenza like illness (ILI) or severe acute respiratory infections (SARI)

Jaipur: After looking at human compassion and feelings of the general public, the Rajasthan government and the health department have directed to hand over the body of COVID infected patients to their family members and to get the cremation done by completely following the medical protocol. “The government apart from being alert and cautious is also sensitive. Knowing the intention of the general public, the Chief Minister has directed the department to hand over the dead body of COVID infected patient to the family members and get the cremation done by taking full caution. COVID pandemic is spreading rapidly in the entire country and in such a situation the general public has to be very cautious. Any kind emotional negligence could prove fatal to the general public,” said state Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma in a press statement.

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The Health Minister further stated that as per the guidelines it is not important to get COVID test done for every dead body and added that “it should be done only for those who have died of ILI or SARI.”

The dead body could be given to the family members without waiting for the test report. It is also not necessary to conduct an autopsy of each dead body. If post mortem is done for any specific reasons, then it should be done as per the guidelines issued by the Government of India especially to prevent infection.

The Rajasthan Health Minister said that the protocol has been decided to catch a glimpse of the COVID patient for one last time. He said that touching, hugging, kissing the dead body would be prohibited.

There should not be more than 20 people during the cremation. During the cremation, it will be necessary to wear PPE kit, gloves, mask, maintaining social distance along with to fully comply with all the other protocols. No permission from anybody is required to take a body from one district to another, he added.

Appealing to the general public, Dr Sharma said there should be no carelessness during the cremation, otherwise it can become a cause of great trouble.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) 

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