On March 26, the first coronavirus patient died in Armenia, aged 72 years. On March 29, two more deaths were reported – a 55-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man who had coronavirus disease combined with other chronic illnesses.
Iravaban.net tried to find out from the Ministry of Health how the funeral of the 72-year-old patient was done and how the other two dead people should be buried.
Talking about the topic the BBC writes about developments in Italy. “Many victims of Covid-19 die in isolated hospital rooms where their relatives or friends have no access. Visits there are prohibited because of the high probability of infection.
Doctors say the virus is not transmitted after the patient dies, but it may remain on the clothes for several hours. Therefore, the bodies are hermetically packaged. In Italy, all the dead are buried in masks and hospital clothes.
In the present unprecedented situation, the functions of relatives, friends, and priests have unexpectedly fallen under the instructions as the relatives of the deceased are in quarantine at the time of his death.”
The situation in Armenia is different. A representative of the health ministry told us that the bodies of the dead had already been handed over to their relatives.
“The funeral must be carried out in accordance with epidemiological instructions, which includes the concept of a closed coffin. We cannot provide other information, it is personal information,” the ministry said.
On March 30, at the extraordinary sitting of the National Assembly, the draft law on Making Amendments to the Law on Medical Care and Services of the Population was debated.
In case of amendment of the law, in case of death due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), no Pathologic-anatomical autopsies will be performed.
The draft law states that organizations providing pathological and anatomical services in the Republic of Armenia do not have the necessary conditions to carry out autopsy in case of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) deaths and do not meet international requirements.
At the same time taking into account the fact that the degree of infectivity of the aforementioned disease is not yet fully disclosed, which may lead to irreversible effects of the spread of the infection, as well as the duration of coronary disease (COVID-19), according to available medical records it is not necessary to carry out a autopsy in case of death of a person due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and this indicates the need to amend the Law on Medical Care and Services of the Population.
Notably, on 16 March, the Government of the Republic of Armenia declared a state of emergency due to the Coronavian pandemic.
According to the decision, persons can perform funerals, births, weddings with up to 20 people.
Photo by BBC.
More people have died of coronavirus in Italy than anywhere else in the world.
