HARARE – Zimbabwe’s government should stop treating Covid-19 like Ebola, a group of doctors said on Monday, a day after police said they would prohibit the movement of dead bodies between districts.
The police directive, announced in a statement, was contradicted by the ministry of heath and child care on Monday. The ministry said while the government wanted people buried in the town or city where death occurred, the movement of bodies was still permissible under strict conditions.
A government spokesman has also clarified that Zimbabweans dying in foreign countries can still be repatriated home for burial.
Under the ministry of health guidelines released on Monday which appeared aimed at correcting the police statement, funerals have been limited to just 30 people. Body viewing and overnight vigils around the body are banned.
“For those who want to transport the body for burial outside the city or town of birth, they should ensure that the body is hermetically sealed in a triple coffin before collection of the body from funeral parlour or hospital mortuary,” the ministry said.
Where the body is to be moved between towns, the ministry said it should be transported from a funeral parlour or hospital mortuary straight to the gravesite.
The Zimbabwe Association for Human Rights Doctors (ZAHDR) says the government’s alarmist approach over dead bodies is based on unproven science.
“They seem to be using guidelines from Ebola and cholera outbreaks. Yet the pathophysiology of the diseases is different. Are these decisions scientifically driven? What are the benefits of disinfecting a burial site before the burial?” ZAHDR treasurer Norman Matara said.
“The risk of transmission is more from gatherings during a burial and less likely from the dead body. Our policies should ensure compliance and restrictions of gatherings during a burial, not restricting the corpse being moved to a preferred burial site.”
In burial guidelines, the United States Centre for Disease Control says “there is currently no known risk associated with being in the same room at a funeral or visitation service with the body of someone who died of Covid-19.”
The CDC however adds that “you should avoid touching the body of someone who has died of Covid-19, before the body is prepared for viewing.”
Zimbabwe had recorded 21,477 Covid-19 cases which had resulted in 507 deaths on Sunday.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has re-introduced a 24-hour lockdown, limiting intercity travel and closing most businesses. Authorities say funerals remain super-spreader events, and the new burial guidelines are designed to curb the spread of the virus.
Many had found the directive that burials can only take place where one would have died as an attack on tradition.
