Namibia eases Covid-19 burial restrictions
Namibia has relaxed restrictions on the burial of people who died of Covid-19. In the revised format, Health Minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula said the restrictions have been eased to allow the body to be buried at a site the families preferred.
“A person who died of Covid-19 may be buried at a site which the family chooses and not necessarily at the locality where the person has died as has been the case so far,” he said on Wednesday. Namibia is keeping its Covid-19 restriction in place up to February 24.
He said families who choose to bury their loved ones outside the locality where the death occurred may do so at their own cost, provided that the human remains are handled by a professional and registered undertaker who has been trained and certified by the state to handle human remains of people who succumbed to infectious diseases, including Covid-19.
Such burials will be supervised by officials from the Ministry of Health to ensure that all health protocols are observed.
Close family members of the deceased will be allowed to be 3m from the grave, while other mourners will stand 10m away from the grave and maintain a distance of 2m from each other.
A person who died of Covid-19 complications should be buried in a normal cemetery. The grave should not be less than two metres deep. The grave is covered with soft sand by the staff of the ministry or the undertaker until the coffin is covered.
’’After that the tools will be disinfected and the family members can fully cover the grave as long as they are wearing the full PPEs (personal protective equipment), which the government will not supply,” he said.
Families will be allowed to file and throw soil or flowers into the grave, provided they keep walking and maintain a distance of 1.5m between them.
He said the remains of a person who died of Covid-19 complications outside Namibia would not be repatriated.
“The remains of a person who died of Covid-19 complications outside Namibia shall be allowed in Namibia if the body is cremated. Embalming of the body does not qualify the body to be allowed in the country,” he said.
The number of people attending a funeral remains 50. This number, however, does not include the staff from the health ministry and the undertaker. Namibia has recorded 34 372 Covid-19 cases, with 359 deaths and 32 777 recoveries.
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Source: IOL
