KABUL (Pajhwok): Pajhwok’s findings show some families have shifted bodies of their relatives, who died of the coronavirus, from hospital in disregard of the Ministry of Public Health’s recommendations. The ministry instructions have been flouted at funeral and burial ceremonies.
Medical experts say the coronavirus can spread through breathing, coughing and sneezing. However, the virus is not transmitted to others if the victim’s body is given a bath, disinfected, shrouded and placed in a casket in hospital. But a direct contact with the body of a Covid-19 victim must be avoided.
Guidelines for washing, shrouding bodies:
Following the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, MoPH issued a health guideline titled “Covid-19 control and prevention and management of the dead at health centres and homes”.
In line with these standard operating procedures (SOPs), the surface and environment where the body is washed should be cleaned with water and a solution of “sodium hypochlorite”. The solution should remain in the environment for more than one minute.
The guideline explains that medical equipment, utensils and clothing should be disinfected with alcohol, ethanol and sodium hypochlorite.
Those who come in direct contact with the corpse should take precautionary measures such as wearing a mask, gloves, protective clothing and covering the face. Those who wash the body should also wear protective clothing and gloves and cover the face.
Based on MoPH guidelines, after being shrouded, the body must be transported to the cemetery by an ambulance and relatives of the deceased should not have direct contact with the corpse.
Places equipped for washing bodies:
The MoPH has set up a special facility for washing the bodies of Covid-19 victims at the Afghan-Japan Hospital, a specialised centre for the diagnosis and treatment of the coronavirus patients.
A Pajhwok reporter visited a special section of the hospital for washing coronavirus victims’ bodies, and gave an eyewitness account.
The hospital has a special place for washing coronavirus victims’ bodies, in addition to a concrete bed where utensils (bucket, soap and chlorine), with hot and cold water facilities.
The bodies of the coronavirus patients are washed, shrouded and put in caskets in the hospital’s bathroom by trained individuals under special protective conditions, equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE).
Khwaja Akbar Shah Siddiqui, who washes the dead at the Afghan-Japan Hospital, told Pajhwok he had received adequate training on washing and shrouding the dead.
While the shrouding the body, the bather should have all personnel protective equipment (PPE) under special conditions.
He said women were tasked with washing females’ bodies while men gave baths to males’ corpses in an Islamic way.
Siddiqui added the shrouding and covering of the bodies was performed in line with the Islamic teachings and then handed over to their families through ambulances.
He urged the people to allow the washing and shrouding of coronavirus victims’ in the hospital before the corpses were transferred to relatives to prevent themselves from contracting the virus.
Some families take responsibility for washing bodies:
Gulalai Safi, a resident of Kabul, told Pajhwok Afghan News during the first wave of the coronavirus, she had seen the bodies of several Covid-19 patients, including her relatives, neighbours and friends, which were washed and shrouded by their families against the health guidelines.
She added: “I think many families do not follow the existing rules and guidelines, when it comes to washing, shrouding and burying the coronavirus victims.”
Mohammad Nisar, a resident of Kabul Banai area, said: “My cousin died of the coronavirus during the first wave, but his family hid the cause of his death. I gave him a bath and then I and my entire family were infected with Covid-19.”
He claimed his relatives and friends, who died in the first wave of the coronavirus, were washed and shrouded by their families. Those washing the bodies neither wore protective clothing nor had the required facilities and items.
Asked why bodies were not washed in the hospital, Nisar replied: “It is a stigma for us. We will look disgraced and this could be a taunt for us.”
Compliance with SOPs at funeral, burial:
A source in the Afghan-Japan Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “Some families don’t want us to wash their deceased relatives — so much so that some families take away their dead without informing us.”
He did not reveal the exact number of the bodies shifted in this manner from the hospital. However, he urged people not to ignore SOPs in washing the dead and take health guidelines seriously.
At the same time, Dr. Baz Mohammad Sherzad, a medical expert, believed the reason for families not giving the bodies of their relatives to the government was that such methods of washing and shrouding were applied only to unclaimed corpses.”
He said although during the first wave of the pandemic, people were asked to be careful while burying the dead, the local culture and traditions prevented the implementation of SOPs. As a result, people did not care.
He recommends the area should be thoroughly disinfected before and after a coronavirus victim is washed. Similarly, the place, where the funeral is held, should be disinfected to minimise the risk of the virus.
Meanwhile, MoPH spokeswoman Masooma Jafari told Pajhwok that due to fears in the first wave of the pandemic, Covid-19 victims were buried by the Kabul municipality. In second wave, however, bodies were handed over to families after being washed and shrouded. She thought the level of public awareness was currently higher.
She added if the health guideline were observed in shrouding and burying the deceased, no problem would be created for the family of the deceased.
The official recalled during the first wave, Covid-19 patients’ bodies were buried in special places. But now the dead could be laid to rest in public cemeteries, causing no problem to others.
Jafari said families were allowed to bury their dead during the second wave of the coronavirus. The patients’ bodies are handed over to their families after they are washed and shrouded.
According to her, health guidelines are provided for funeral and burial are explained to families when they were handed over the bodies of their relatives killed by Covid-19.
Since the outbreak of the virus, 55,059 positive cases have surfaced in Afghanistan. Some 47,679 have recovered from the disease, which has killed at least 2,404 Afghans.
sa/mud
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