Crematoriums backing out from attending to nCoV fatality – Duque

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday said that crematoriums were backing out from attending to the corpse of the novel coronavirus-infected Chinese tourist who died in the country.

Duque said these crematories, some of which were Chinese-owned, initially accepted the job but later on withdrew their services.

“We’ve been struggling. There are many groups who initially said they will cremate, they will bury (the corpse) in a Chinese cemetery, only to find out later on that they changed their minds,” the Health Secretary said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

“It is very unfortunate,” he added.

While microorganisms usually die when their hosts expire, Duque conceded that they do not yet know how long the nCoV could survive after the death of its host.

“The new virus needs further characterization,” he added.

Duque also admitted that the Department of Health had no contingency plan on how to manage the burial of nCoV-infected corpses especially when mortuaries were hesitant to provide their services.

The DOH confirmed two cases of nCoV infections in the country.

As of Monday, the Health Department had 80 persons under investigation (PUIs) for nCoV infections—including the first two confirmed cases. Thirty of the PUIS tested negative, while 48 were awaiting the results of laboratory tests.

On Tuesday, the number of confirmed deaths from the novel coronavirus outbreak spiked to 425, after authorities in Hubei province reported 64 new fatalities. — DVM, GMA News