MANILA, Philippines — Bodies of patients who died of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) should be cremated within 12 hours even if some documents and the payment of bills are not yet accomplished, an official of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases said yesterday.
“Cabinet secretaries met (April 11) via video conference and it was one of the topics discussed. The decision is, number one, the 12-hour (rule on) cremation should be fulfilled and not be violated,” Cabinet Secretary and IATF spokesman Karlo Nograles said at a press briefing.
“The problem sometimes lies on the payment. People are waiting for the one who should pay for this and who should pay for that. So the decision of the Cabinet is do not wait for payment. It should be cremated and do not wait for the one who will settle the bill and do not point fingers,” he added.
Earlier reports said bodies had piled up in the hallway of the morgue of the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) in Quezon City.
EAMC spokesman Dennis Ordoña told CNN Philippines that while the hospital’s morgue could only accommodate five bodies, it has recorded as many as 20 cadavers that have not yet been claimed.
Ordoña said some funeral parlors did not accept the bodies due to uncertainty on who would foot the bill. Cremation services by private contractors could cost anywhere from P60,000 to P100,000.
He said the EAMC is already addressing the issue and has been looking for temporary refrigeration facilities for the dead.
“Even before everything came out, the temporary action plan is to look for portable refrigerator vans which can serve as temporary storage for dead patients,” he said.
A private company has pledged to donate a refrigerated van for the EAMC as a temporary facility for cadavers, he added.
Nograles said the failure to accomplish documents like death certificates should also not hinder the cremation of the bodies of COVID-19 fatalities.
“The bottom line is... we must stick to the 12-hour rule when it comes to cremation. Everything else – papers, bills, all of these can be solved. Those are problems that can be solved,” he added.
He also denied that the government has ordered hospitals to hide deaths related to COVID-19.
“We continue to give reports about COVID-19 response because we know it matters to you. This outbreak concerns all of us. So we recognize that it is our responsibility to give you facts, all the facts and nothing but the facts,” he said.
On the other hand, Nograles said he is backing a proposal to give heroes’ burial to deceased frontline workers but noted that the suggestion needs to be studied by the IATF.
“We call them real-life heroes. They are the heroes of our country. For me, personally, I am for it,” he said.
DOH rules out mass burial
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) has ruled out the possibility of mass burial for the rising number of unclaimed bodies of patients who died of COVID-19 in various government hospitals.
“We are not discussing mass burial because it is not necessary,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said as she assured the public that the government is taking measures for proper cadaver management.
Vergeire noted that hospital capacity to store cadavers in morgues is sufficient and mobile freezers are being prepared for the use of hospitals.
She said the Department of the Interior and Local Government had also assigned a person to coordinate and address concerns on cremation or burial of patients who died of COVID. – With Romina Cabrera, Mayen Jaymalin
The DOH, she said, has long issued the necessary guidelines on the proper management of remains of those who died of infectious disesases.
Yesterday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque inspected the EAMC following reports that cadavers were piling up in the hospital’s morgue.
Duque was informed that the EAMC management team met with varios government agencies and made arrangements for the speedy transport of the bodies for cremation or burial to avoid health hazards.
Aside from visiting the EAMC, Duque called Metro Manila hospital chiefs in a video conference to discuss proper management of the remains of COVID patients and other issues concerning the pandemic. – With Romina Cabrera, Mayen Jamymalin