Guidelines formed for management of bodies infected with COVID-19: Health Ministry

With the country reporting the third death due to novel coronavirus, the Heath Ministry on Tuesday said that guidelines for management of bodies infected with the disease have been issued to define a set of protocols in handling such cases. Health Ministry, Joint Secretary, Lav Aggarwal said the COVID-19 cases in India have risen to 137 and the number of deaths stood at three.

"Guidelines for dead body management towards precautions, infection prevention and control measures, handling of body and environmental disinfection have been issued," Aggarwal said. "The main driver of transmission of COVID-19 is through droplets. There is unlikely to be an increased risk of COVID infection from a dead body to health workers or family members who follow standard precautions while handling body.

"Only the lungs of dead COVID patients, if handled during an autopsy, can be infectious," the guidelines stated while listing out standard precautions to be followed by health care workers while handling bodies of those who die of the disease. The number of coronavirus cases in India on Tuesday rose to 137, which includes 24 foreign nationals.

More than 5,700 people who came in contact with those that tested positive are under rigorous surveillance, Aggarwal said. He also said that guidelines have been issued for the private sector laboratories intending to initiate COVID-19 testing.

Laboratory tests for coronavirus at private labs should be offered when prescribed by a qualified physician as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines for testing. "Private labs testing is to ensure real time reporting to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and the ICMR headquaters for timely initiation of contact tracing and research activities," he said.

ICMR will share the standard operating procedure for laboratory testing and provide positive controls for establishing the test as soon as the concerned private laboratory has procured the primers, probes and reagents Adoption of commercial kits for testing should be based on validations conducted by the ICMR, National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. Appropriate biosafety and biosecurity precautions should be ensured while collecting samples from suspected coronavirus patients.

The government on Monday asked all ministries and departments to install thermal scanners at the entrance of the buildings and suspend issuance of temporary and visitor passes with immediate effect. According to an advisory issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, these precautionary measures were aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19.

All ministries and departments are advised to take necessary measures, including installation of thermal scanners, mandatory placing of hand sanitiser at the entrance of government buildings, discourage visits by outsiders, and suspend all temporary or visitor passes with immediate effect. The order also asked officers to avoid non-essential travel and said that meetings as far as feasible should be done through video conferencing and avoid meetings involving a large number of people.

The government on Tuesday banned the entry of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia to India with immediate effect, according to an additional travel advisory. In continuation of the travel advisory issued on March 11 and March 16, the following additional advisory has been issued.

No flight shall take off from these countries to India after 1500 hours Indian Standard Time (IST). The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure, according to the advisory. This instruction is a temporary measure and shall be in force till March 31 and will be reviewed subsequently.

With coronavirus cases swelling in the country, the government banned the entry of passengers from the European Union countries, Turkey and the UK from March 18 till March 31 on Monday. Delhi has so far reported eight positive cases while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 15 cases, including one foreign national.

Maharashtra has 39 cases, including three foreigners, while Kerala has recorded 26 cases, which includes two foreign nationals. Karnataka has 11 coronavirus patients. Ladakh has reported six cases while Jammu and Kashmir three. Telangana has reported five cases, which includes two foreigners.

Rajasthan has also reported four cases, including that of two foreigners. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each. Odisha reported its first case on Monday.

In Haryana, there are 15 cases, which include 14 foreigners, while Uttarakhand has reported one case. According to the ministry's data, 14 people have been discharged so far, including the three patients from Kerala who were discharged last month.