Delhi govt orders no COVID-19 test on persons brought dead to hospitals

In the latest of the orders to show reduced number of deaths in the national capital, the Delhi government, on Sunday, stated that no sample for COVID-19 test would be taken from a person brought dead to the hospital. Doctors are only allowed to clinically examine the body to decide about cause of death.

This order comes after several people who were brought dead to hospitals had tested positive. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in central Delhi, Lok Nayak Hospital near old Delhi and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in East Delhi had all been taking swabs of those persons to confirm if the person had been infected by the Coronavirus. National Herald hasn’t been able to confirm from other hospitals about the procedure.

In the order, the health secretary Padmini Singla stated that the doctors can only clinically examine the dead body to confirm the cause of death. If after the examination, the doctors feel that the cause of death ‘may be’ COVID-19, then the body ‘may be’ released as suspected COVID-19 dead body.

This is the third order released by the Delhi government regarding handling of dead bodies of COVID-19 affected persons. The first and the second orders passed on March 25 and April 3 asked the hospitals to provide a trained healthcare worker to handle the body whether the person died at the hospital or outside.

Earlier this week, there were several news reports that though Delhi government has claimed only 160 COVID-19 deaths have occurred, at least 443 cremations and burials have been done following the protocols for coronavirus deaths until May 14. The number of COVID-19 deaths have only risen since then.

This decision of the government will cause more harm than not. Cadavers do not transmit the disease, but the procedures for handling the body of a person with COVID-19 is different from regular burials or cremations. If the bodies are not handled correctly, several people at the cremation sites and burial grounds may end up with COVID-19 infections.

According to guidelines released by the union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), those handling the body of a COVID-19 patient at the hospital, mortuary or at the crematorium or the burial ground must wash hands with soap and water after coming in physical contact with the corpse.

The health care workers must use Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) while placing the body in a leak-proof plastic bag after decontaminating with 1% Hypochlorite. The guidelines only allow rites which do not require touching of the body. The MoHFW specifically states that bathing, touching and embalming of the body are not allowed in case of cadavers with COVID-19 infection.

Earlier, the Delhi government had stopped sharing the hospital-wise death data from the daily health bulletin. This is likely to lead to more cover-ups in the death data from the National Capital as it would enable the government to avoid questions about number of deaths in specific hospitals.

The Delhi government’s health bulletin of May 18 states that in the last 24 hours, 244 persons tested positive for Coronavirus. The number of COVID-19 positive patients in Delhi today stands at 10,054, of which 4,485 have recovered or have been discharged from hospitals. The death toll due to COVID-19 officially stands at 160.