Amid the crunch situation of global pandemic coronavirus, news that has come in the limelight is Thailand reported the first case where the virus is being transmitted from a dead patient to a medical examiner and the news was confirmed by a Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine study which was released on Sunday. Moreover, the extra safety for morgue and funeral home workers amid the situation is needed as well.
COVID-19 Spreads Through Dead Bodies
“The disinfection procedure used in operation rooms might be applied in pathology/forensic units too,” shared Won Sriwijitalai of the RVT Medical Center in Bangkok and Viroj Wiwanitkit of China’s Hainan Medical University. “At present, there is no data on the exact number of COVID-19 contaminated corpses since it is not a routine practice to examine for COVID-19 in dead bodies in Thailand.”
Nearly 2 million positive cases have been reported worldwide as of Monday while Thailand has reported more than 2,500 cases so far. However, the death of the forensic team member was only the second case among the medical personnel in Thailand. On the other hand, it’s still not known well that how long the new coronavirus can survive in dead bodies or whether it can affect the people who handle them.
Meanwhile, Ebola is one of the viruses that can spread from dead bodies, but the workers who handle dead bodies from hepatitis, tuberculosis, and cholera should be careful too. Moreover, any of the people who are coming to the contact of COVID19 positive body, alive or dead they need to have personal protective equipment, shared health policy expert Summer Johnson McGee of the University of New Haven to BuzzFeed News by email.
The virus has been spreading so fast and the investigations for those patients who have died recently and not been tested should take place so that their family members, neighbours, and coworkers can take proper protection as well.
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