Wrapping coffins with plastic is unnecessary, says Department of Health

THE Department of Health (DoH) issued a statement on Wednesday morning, (27 January) following reports it received about the practice of wrapping coffins with plastic.

“The Department of Health has received reports of coffins of people who died of Covid-19 being wrapped with plastic and in some cases, human remains are also wrapped inside and coffins are marked with biohazard stickers prior to burial,” said Popo Maja, the head of  communications and stakeholder management at DoH.

“A meeting was convened on Tuesday, 26 January with interested and affected parties in management of human remains,” said the statement issued by the government communications and information service (GCIS).

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Human remains

The statement said DoH has issued explicit directions on the correct procedures to be followed in the management of human remains of a person who died of Covid-19.

“These directions do not prescribe the covering of coffins with plastics, use of biohazard stickers nor wearing full PPE by funeral directors or sanitising of the graves or clothes of people attending the funeral as this is unnecessary,” said the statement.

However, the statement did concede that in some cases there may be additional measures prescribed by the municipality where the grave is excavated in an area that has a high water table, but in those cases the additional measures would be needed in 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.”

WHO guidance

“The revised guidance from World Health Organization indicates that transmission of SARS 2 from human remains to people who are alive has not been proven therefore the department is in a 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,” said the DoH in its statement.

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The statement further explained that in addition to the current Covid-19 health directions, the department has, as part of regulatory role under the National Health Act, 2003 (Act No61 of 2003), as amended, issued regulations governing the establishments of funeral undertakers’ premises and mortuary, conveyance of human remains, burial, cremation, exhumation, reburials and general provisions.

The DoH said because Covid-19 is a new disease, which is virulent in nature, it has the potential to affect a large number of people if health protocols at funerals and other gatherings are not adhered to.

“The department has regulated the number of people that can attend funeral gatherings to reduce the possible exposure to the disease. The process of handling human remains affected with Covid-19 poses a risk to the members of the public who are doing it and to their immediate families and the community at large,” said the statement.

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What should happen?

According to the DoH human remains should only be conveyed to the deceased`s home on the day of the burial and viewing is only allowed under control environment within a mortuary or funeral undertakers’ premises.

“These measures are still necessary to control the spread of Covid-19 amongst mourners,” said Maja

“We appeal to all citizen of South Africa to observe the above requirements so that as a country we can move towards combating the spread of the disease,” said the statement.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting