Families whose relatives die from the Covid19 pandemic will only have 24 hours to collect and bury the deceased, failure to which the government will inter the remains at the nearest cemetery.
New safety measures announced
Kenyan government will bury bodies of coronavirus victims if not picked within 24 hrs - Chief Pathologist Johansen Oduor
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The announcement was made by Chief Government pathologist Johansen Oduor who indicated that the state did not want a situation where infections would be spread through bodies of the deceased.
“To avoid a situation where we have so many bodies lying in the mortuary and these are bodies that are potentially infectious we came to that decision of having that directive that bodies be buried within 24 hours of death."
"As government we are going to assist the family transport the body to the place of burial so the question of cost will not come in… Just in case nobody appears within 24 hours we are going to bury the body at the nearest cemetery to where the person died," Oduor stated.
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He added that as a safety measure, there would be no embalming of the bodies belonging to Corona virus victims.
In addition to the measures announced by the government pathologist, the government added that in cases where a person dies in the areas affected by a travel ban, the family would have no option but to bury their kin in the area where the died.
The travel ban was introduced in the Nairobi Metropolitan area with effect from Monday evening. A similar ban is to take effect on Wednesday evening in the coastal counties of Mombasa, Kwale, and Kilifi.
There is already an existing order limiting burials to immediate family members who must not exceed 15 people.
