{"id":251994,"date":"2020-04-14T05:39:51","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T09:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=251994"},"modified":"2020-04-14T05:39:51","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T09:39:51","slug":"ensure-burial-cremation-of-covid-19-deaths-within-12-hours-dilg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/04\/14\/ensure-burial-cremation-of-covid-19-deaths-within-12-hours-dilg\/","title":{"rendered":"Ensure burial, cremation of Covid-19 deaths within 12 hours: DILG"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\u201cThe remains of persons who died of communicable diseases such as Covid-19 are potentially infectious and standard precautions should be implemented for every case.\u00a0Kaya dapat siguruhin ng mga\u00a0local governments\u00a0na may nakatalagang\u00a0funeral parlor\u00a0at\u00a0crematorium\u00a0sa kanilang lugar na mamamahala sa mga labi ng namatay sa\u00a0(This is why local government should ensure that there are designated funeral parlors and crematoriums in their areas that will handle the remains of those who died due to) Covid-19,\u201d DILG Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o said in a news release. (File Photo: Adrien Wodey\/Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Tuesday said local government units (LGUs) should ensure that the remains of confirmed and suspected Covid-19 cases in their localities are cremated or buried within 12 hours after death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe remains of persons who died of communicable diseases such as Covid-19 are potentially infectious and standard precautions should be implemented for every case.\u00a0Kaya dapat siguruhin ng mga<\/em>\u00a0local governments\u00a0na may nakatalagang<\/em>\u00a0funeral parlor\u00a0at<\/em>\u00a0crematorium\u00a0sa kanilang lugar na mamamahala sa mga labi ng namatay sa<\/em>\u00a0(This is why local government should ensure that there are designated funeral parlors and crematoriums in their areas that will handle the remains of those who died due to) Covid-19,\u201d DILG Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o said in a news release.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that while cremation is preferred, the same cannot apply to Muslims because it is\u00a0forbidden in their religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHence, all remains of our Muslim brothers cannot be cremated but must be buried in the nearest Muslim cemetery within 12 hours from death,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In places where there are no crematoriums, the standard burial process within 12 hours should apply.<\/p>\n

A\u00f1o issued the statement after receiving reports that some LGUs refuse entry in their localities to cadavers of Covid-19 cases for burial or cremation purposes as well as LGUs with identified Muslim cemeteries who restrict the burial of a Muslim who died as a suspect or a confirmed Covid-19 case.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo LGU shall prohibit the cremation or burial of Covid-19 cadavers in a cemetery or memorial park located in his or her area of jurisdiction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A\u00f1o also urged LGUs to provide possible financial assistance to cover the logistics, fuel, salary and other expenses that will be incurred in the process which include transfer or transport of human remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost of burial or cremation of a dead person shall be borne by the nearest kin. If the family is not financially capable of defraying the expenses or if the deceased had no kin, the cost shall be borne by the city or municipal government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has set aside PHP25,000 for each indigent bereaved family of suspected or confirmed Covid-19 cases through the DSWD.<\/p>\n

He also advised LGUs to issue a price cap or impose a price ceiling on funeral services located within their jurisdiction to prevent overpricing.<\/p>\n

He added that any crematorium service or funeral parlor who will refuse to accept cadavers would be closed permanently by canceling its business permit.<\/p>\n

\u201cLGUs shall monitor and penalize funeral parlors and crematoriums that refuse to provide logistics and transport of suspect or confirmed Covid-19 remains, including refusal to pick-up the remains,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Funeral workers are front-liners too<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, DILG spokesperson, Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said that funeral services staff and personnel may also be considered among the front-liners amid the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuneral workers are also risking their safety in order to provide proper burial or cremation of the dead. They must also be accorded the same safety measures as health workers,\u201d Malaya said.<\/p>\n

He said that funeral workers are granted exemptions from the enhanced community quarantine to be able to freely move and travel to ensure that the remains of deceased individuals will be given proper funeral services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe LGUs are enjoined to ensure funeral companies are to provide transportation and\/or housing accommodations for funeral service staff and that all personnel handling the dead body are required to wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) while performing their tasks. All PPE (sets) shall be properly disposed of, preferably burned for disposable and properly disinfected for non-disposable, after its use,\u201d he said in accordance with Memorandum Circular 2020-063.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Tuesday said local government units (LGUs) should ensure that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":251995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251994"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251996,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251994\/revisions\/251996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}