Odisha’s First COVID-19 Deceased To Be Cremated Under Direct Supervision Of State Govt

Bhubaneswar: The 72-year-old man, who died at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on Monday, will be cremated under the direct supervision of the Odisha government in accordance with the guidelines of the central government, Chief Spokesperson on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi said on Tuesday.

This is first coronavirus death in Odisha, which has so far reported 42 positive cases.

“The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued guidelines for cremation of COVID-19 patients and it will be conducted accordingly after the hospital authorities hand the body over to the state government,” he said.

On March 18, the central government had issued guidelines for management of dead bodies infected with COVID-19.

The septuagenarian was admitted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on April 4 after he complained of respiratory distress. He had a history of chronic hypertension. His swab and blood samples were sent for tests last night and he later tested positive for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the government has begun contract tracing of the deceased and the process to seal the Jharpada area and declare it as a containment zone.

THE UNION HEALTH MINISTRY’S GUIDELINES

• The health worker attending to the dead body should perform hand hygiene, ensure proper use of PPE (water resistant apron, goggles, N95 mask, gloves)
• All tubes, drains and catheters on the dead body should be removed.
• Any puncture holes or wounds (resulting from removal of catheter, drains, tubes, or otherwise) should be disinfected with 1% hypochlorite and dressed with impermeable material
• Apply caution while handling sharps such as intravenous catheters and other sharp devices. They should be disposed into a sharps container
• Plug Oral, nasal orifices of the dead body to prevent leakage of body fluids
• If the family of the patient wishes to view the body at the time of removal from the isolation room or area, they may be allowed to do so with the application of Standard Precautions
• Place the dead body in leak-proof plastic body bag.The exterior of the body bag can be decontaminated with 1% hypochlorite. The body bagcan be wrapped with a mortuary sheet or sheet provided by the family members
• The body will be either handed over to the relatives or taken to mortuary
• All used/soiled linen should be handled with standard precautions, put in bio-hazard bag and the outer surface of the bag disinfected with hypochlorite solution
• Used equipment should be autoclaved or decontaminated with disinfectant solutions in accordance with established infection prevention control practices
• All medical waste must be handled and disposed of in accordance with Bio-
• medical waste management rules
• The health staff who handled the body will remove personal protective equipment and will perform hand hygiene
• Provide counseling to the family members and respect their sentiments