At a time when the whole world was fighting against the plastic menace, the advent of coronavirus or Covid-19 has forced the use of plastic — in taking precautions, to manage, to treat patients and also to burry bodies of the victims. This has evoked a discussion on the social media, with posts by users and their sharing by others.
The ‘Covid-19: Guidelines on Dead Body Management’, issued by Directorate General of Health Services (EMR Division), under Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, states, “Place the dead body in leak-proof plastic body bag. The exterior of the body bag can be decontaminated with 1% hypochlorite”.
Some persons have evoked a discussion, on social media platforms, on the pros and cons of using plastic bags to cover bodies, before burrying them.
One Rakesh from Hassan, who identifies himself as Jeev Rock on Facebook, has posted a text meme, raising concern over the dangers of burrying a human body in a leak-proof plastic bag. His post had been shared by 3,657 users till 4.10 pm on Tuesday. Till the same time, the post evoked 451 responses and 251 comments.
The post, in Kannada reads: “It is a known fact that plastic is non-bio-degradable. However, the bodies of those who succumb to Covid are packed in leak-proof plastic bags and are again wrapped in black plastic sheets, before burrying it in pits. If the plastic does not degrade in soil, what will be the plight of the body, inside it? Will it not harm the nature and also human beings? Is it not right to either burn or incarcerate the body?”
R Raghu, former chairman of Karnataka Exhibition Authority, said that if it were one or two cases, there was no need to worry. “But, of late, the number of Covid infection and also deaths are on the rise. Under such circumstances, in a densely-populated nation like ours, following the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) blindly, cannot be justified. We need to modify the guidelines, to suit our circumstances and needs,” he said.
An official of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board said, “It is a sensitive issue to discuss at this hour of crisis. The burrial has to be done as per the WHO protocol. Even though it is mentioned ‘leak-proof plastic bag’, there will be air circulation and there will not be much harm. The decay of the body and also disintegration of the plastic bags and sheets will be delayed, but will not be hindered permanently. So, people need not worry about the procedure followed in burrying the bodies of Covid victims.”