Families whose kin succumb to COVID-19 will now have the opportunity to bury their loved ones with respect.
Ministry of Health has revised burial guidelines for COVID-19 fatalities to allow their family take center stage in their burial ceremonies with MoH officials guiding the process to ensure safety.
However, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Mercy Mwangangi said family members performing the burial rites will have to wear PPEs as a precautionary measure.
The revised protocols were recommended by the World Health Organization after establishing that there’s minimal transmission of the virus by corpses.
“They will also allow any safe burial rites as may be dictated by the religion and or culture of the deceased person. Therefore, families will be required to identify healthy members of their family, who have no increased risk of COVID-19 outcomes, and able to safely use the recommended PPEs in the burial process,” said Dr. Mwangangi.
“During the burial process, the coffin must not be opened at any one time for viewing,” she added.
This relaxation of rules comes even after the country lost 9 more people to the virus to raise total COVID-19 fatalities to 659.
The country recorded 139 new infections to put national infections toll at 37,218.
198 recovered bringing total recoveries to 24,147.
