RAHIM YAR KHAN: The Shaikh Zayed Medical College and Hospital (SZMCH) administration is not handing over the bodies of even the suspected Covid-19 patients who expire at the facility to their families in alleged violation of related guidelines issued by the Ministry of National Health Services.

As per the ministry guidelines issued on May 26, 2020, the burial of the people who die of Covid-19 should be managed by the authorities on a case-to-case basis, balancing the rights of the family, the risks of exposure to infection and the need of investigation into the death cause.

Rashid Hameed, a resident of Sadiqabad, told Dawn that his mother, Mahmooda Bibi, 75, was a chronic patient of blood pressure and kidney disease. She was brought to the SZMCH on June 2 with symptoms of pneumonia and was immediately shifted to Covid-19 isolation ward as a suspected patient of the highly contagious disease.

He said her sample for coronavirus test was not collected for five days at the hospital and was finally sent to Bahawalpur on June 7 (sample number-312791). She died in the evening of June 8 and the death certificate issued by the hospital mentioned cardiopulmonary arrest as cause of her death.

But, later the SZMCH administration refused to hand over the body to the bereaved family and buried it at 12 midnight. Her virus test report is still awaited.

SZMCH focal person Rana Ilyas Ahmed said Mahmooda Bibi was shifted to the hospital’s isolation ward due to her initial symptoms. He claimed her sample was taken the same day (June 2) she was admitted to the hospital.

About the ministry guidelines and regulation regarding burial of the bodies of suspected or confirmed Covid-19 patients, Mr Ilyas said the SZMCH administration was following all the related protocols issued by the deputy commissioner’s office. However, the spokesperson could not provide any written order or guidelines issued by the DC office in this regard.

Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department spokesperson Hafiz Qaiser and Deputy Commissioner Rahim Yar Khan did not respond to phone calls and text messages of this scribe despite repeated attempts.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2020