Durban - Jane Govender has one regret - that she was unable to give her husband a grand send-off for his funeral last month.
Pastor Krish Govender, 74, tested positive for Covid-19 in December. He died on January 2 soon after fulfilling his dream and opening a church. The last time his wife saw him alive was when he was admitted to hospital.
Due to the government regulations at the time, a drive-by funeral procession was held and the coffin, wrapped in plastic, could not be removed from the hearse and left at the deceased’s home or a place of worship.
The hearse stopped at the driveway so some of Krish’s family could pay their last respects and place a rose on his coffin. Five minutes later, the hearse's door was closed and the vehicle left for the Shallcross cemetery, where he was buried.
Govender said she felt robbed as two weeks after her husband’s funeral, new funeral regulations were released by the Covid-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC). Funerals could be conducted as they were prior to the pandemic.
She said her husband had often told the family that for his funeral, they should not hold back.
"He said we must give him a grand send-off and that his last rites must be conducted the right way. He wanted everyone who he knew and loved him present and they should share a meal afterwards. He wanted a party instead of a funeral. But due to the guidelines at the time, we could not carry out his wishes.
"As a pastor, my husband conducted many funerals and he requested each family member to place a rose on the deceased's body, while at the family home. But in our case, we could not see his face nor say a proper goodbye. Some of our family remained in their cars as they paid their final respects. Only a handful of us placed roses on his closed coffin. If I could do things again, I would do it in a heartbeat.
“I am not happy with how things were done. It haunts me every day. We recently opened his church, World Angels Christian Centre in Shallcross, and he said to me that if something happened to one of us, we would hold our funerals and services there as the hall could accommodate more than 100 people. But because a wrapped coffin could not be removed from the hearse, we could not even take his coffin into the church."
The MAC told Dr Zweli Mkhize, the minister of health, that government must abolish the practice of wrapping the coffins of those who died from the virus in plastic. The committee said that unlike Ebola, Covid-19 could not be transmitted from a corpse.
The committee said some graves were dug up, the bodies illegally exhumed, the plastic coverings removed and the coffins reburied without approval and following guidelines.
“To date, there is no reported case of Sars-CoV-2 transmission from a dead body to a human,” said the MAC. “There is very little risk of infection being transmitted from a dead body to those carefully handling the corpse. The possibility of the virus escaping during pressure applied to the chest soon after death might expel live virus but this has not been proven.”
It added that the wrapping of bodies and coffins in plastic prior to burial was unnecessary.
“Transmission at funerals occurs amongst the living due to overcrowding, lack of social distancing and wearing of masks, carrying out hand hygiene and good ventilation. The WHO recommends the use of body bags to transfer the corpse from the hospital bed to the mortuary or funeral parlour for preparation.
’’This is to avoid exposure to body fluids. If there are no signs of fluid leak, a shroud is acceptable. All those handling the body, whether a health care worker or family, must abide by the rules of carefully handling the body, hand hygiene, wearing appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment), and cleaning/disinfection after the process is completed.”
Muzi Hlenga, the president of the National Funeral Parlours' Association South Africa (NAFUPA), said a meeting was held between the burial industry, government and other stakeholders on how South Africans could lay their loved ones to rest in a dignified manner.
Hlengwa said members from the funeral industry told the government that wrapping was not needed.
"We are glad they finally listened and gave in, so that families could give their loved ones the send-off they deserved.”
He said some of the association's members had started conducting funerals in the way they were done before the lockdown.
“But people will still need to social distance and wear their PPE. While we know the deceased's body cannot infect anyone, we still ask that the body not be touched."
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