Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton
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Dr. Christopher Tufton
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton is appealing to funeral homes to stick to guidelines for the handling of bodies during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr. Tufton was responding to concerns raised by a funeral home in Manchester about having removed a body from a hospital two weeks ago without being informed that the patient was a suspected COVID-19 case.
Dr. Tufton said while hospitals should inform funeral homes, COVID-19 test results may not be readily available to health facilities.
He said funeral homes should follow guidelines in order to protect staff from the highly contagious respiratory illness.
"There are guidelines that have been placed to funeral home operators as it relates to the special precautions that have to be taken when dealing with bodies particularly during this time, and as a consequence, even if they are unaware or have not been told specifically, those guidelines would have applied and those guidelines were made aware to funeral homes across the country," he noted.
Dr. Tufton said the government is close to finalising regulations for the funeral services sector.
The Jamaica Association of Certified Embalmers and Funeral Directors has been calling for regulations to safeguard public health and clamp down on informal operators in the sector.
Dr. Tufton said admitted that the operators are justified in enquiring about the delay in providing the rules, however, he sought to assure that the government is "very close now and we should see something tangible being put out in the public space around the whole regulatory framework for funeral homes."
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