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Munyaradzi Musiiwa, Midlands Correspondent
FUNERAL service providers nationwide have with immediate effect suspended the removal of bodies from homes and are burying the dead within 24 hours.

The funeral parlours are treating all bodies as Covid-19 contaminated hence the decision to bury them within 24 hours.

The service providers said the new measures are meant to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Nyaradzo Funeral Services, in a statement said only bodies emanating from road traffic accidents and homicide cases will not be treated as having the risk of Covid-19 contamination.

“At the meeting held today under Zimbabwe Association of Funeral Assurers (ZAFA) the following was agreed: All bodies to be treated as Covid 19 contaminated except road traffic accident and homicide which may be treated as special cases. As such we must strictly adhere to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) guidelines,” the statement said.

“No removals are to be done from home or any other place until there is an opinion on the cause of death by the medical practitioner. This therefore means we must notify health official before doping any removal from home. The police have been informed of this position as they are the custodians of all sudden death bodies.”

It said bodies can only be removed from hospital when the cause and manner of death has been established.

“All burials should be done within 24 hours and encouragement should be done for local burials to limit distance travelled. All confirmed Covid-19 cases to get state supervised burials,” reads part of the statement.

Nyaradzo said funeral service providers have suspended transport services for mourners and will pay clients cash-in-lieu to promote and enhance social distancing being encouraged by health experts to minimise Covid-19 transmission.

“The bus for mourners is suspended with immediate effect in line with the Government position on health and safety measures especially the social distance concept,” reads the statement.

Doves Morgan Managing Director Dr Talent Maziwisa said decisions agreed by ZAFA members were adopted in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

“We agreed as ZAFA to do that. This was also done in consultation with our parent ministry of Health and Child Care,” he said.

However, Health and Child Care Ministry permanent secretary Dr Agnes Mahomva said Government was not privy to the deliberations.

She however confirmed that the State supervises burials for all deaths from confirmed Covid-19 cases.

“I am not aware of the meeting. However, the position of the ministry is that all confirmed Covid-19 cases will get state supervised burials. Maybe the funeral service providers themselves would know better with regard to the other issues,” she said.