Bodies of dead Covid-19 victims being safely disposed of – CMO

Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud has announced that enhanced measures have been employed to dispose of the remains of persons who have succumbed from COVID-19 infection.

During a recent public engagement, he indicated that funeral parlours and hospital mortuaries were engaged to ensure that proper guidelines are followed to safely handle and dispose of those bodies. The same procedure is being implemented for persons who were each considered a risk factor prior to their demise.
“We have also done some additional work in terms of how we handle the human remains, the bodies of the persons, and we have put those (guidelines) out. We have been working closely with all of the mortuaries — both the public mortuaries at the hospital (and) also (those in) the private sector. Most of our funeral industry itself is run by a network of private facilities,” Dr Persaud said.
He added, “We have been working with them, and they have been following the guidelines that we’ve established (for) the safe handling and disposal of those persons who may have succumbed from COVID-19; but altogether, from persons who might be at risk.”
Speaking on the work of medical practitioners during this time, he acknowledged that many of them have been on the frontline of the battle against the pandemic. In fact, many health workers have died globally after contracting the virus while working.
Here, in Guyana, some nurses have complained about being spurned from entering public transportation due to stigma that they are exposed to cases of the coronavirus.
At present, the Ocean View International Hotel is being refurbished as a COVID-19 facility, to treat and institutionalise positive cases and high-risk individuals. While this will take some while, the Public Health Ministry has been seeking isolation facilities at private hospitals. The Sports Hall and National Gymnasium are being equipped as standby facilities.
The CMO indicated that the authorities are also looking to implement additional testing means which could be employed at these facilities. However, there have been some challenges that need to be addressed.
“The situation is getting worse. We are looking at additional methods of testing for COVID-19, and to expand those within some of the private institutions and standalone laboratories…Most of them have capacity issues with what is required for isolation areas (and) for all the adequate personal protective equipment; the use of those have been challenging some of the private institutions,” he explained.
These facilities have been examining persons before they enter their premises, ensuring that all suspected cases are forwarded to the relevant authorities.
“They (private hospitals) all have set up screening services at their institutions. Even before persons get in, they are usually checking temperatures (and) respiratory symptoms, which (are) all in the efforts of trying to identify (cases) early, before persons with high risk can actually get in,” the CMO added.