Ministry of Health has changed guidelines on burying COVID-19 victims, with families now allowed to bury relatives who have succumbed to the deadly disease.
The government had initially taken up the burial arrangements to guarantee safe and dignified burials, commonly used when dealing with highly infectious diseases. Previously, the Uganda Red Cross Society has been carrying out the safe and dignified burials for all COVID-19 suspected and confirmed deaths.
However, the new guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health indicated that their teams will just disinfect the body of the deceased and wrap it in a burial bag before handing it to family members for burial.
This announcement has not gone well with some Members of Parliament including Dr.James Nsaba Buturo (Bufumbira East) and John Twesigye Ntamuhiira (Bunyaruguru County), who said that giving the body of the COVID person to the families for burial will cause more spread of the disease in the community.
Buturo said that giving a body of a person who has succumbed to COVI-19 to families is not advisable especially at the time when Ugandans have refused to adhere to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) aimed at preventing the spread of the disease.
He proposed that once a family loses a person due to COVID, the district health team should take up the role of supervising and burying such a body.
Twesigye said that such a body should be kept in hospital mortuary and transferred for burial on the burial day.
However, the State Minister for Health, Robinah Nabbanja said that they will not change their decision but the families should follow strict guidelines as they bury their relatives.
She warned political leaders to be mindful of their lives and people and urged the people to shun political rallies which attract many people.
