The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) has said that based on currently available scientific information, burial of COVID-19 victims could be permitted in Sri Lanka under strict guidelines recommended by the Health Ministry.

The SLMA has said in a media statement: “The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak had many adverse impacts on the world population and the global economy. As of 25th December 2020, over 79.5 million people have been infected with more than 1.74 million deaths worldwide.

“Sri Lanka has reported over 43,000 cases with over 200 deaths. Since the virus was first identified in December 2019, the number of deaths has been increasing exponentially, causing countries across the world, including Sri Lanka, to develop and enhance emergency measures to combat the virus.

“Since the recent past, disposal of COVID-19 dead bodies has affected ethnic harmony in Sri Lanka.

In view of the cultural diversity of Sri Lanka, it is essential to have a proper policy for disposal of the dead which is acceptable to all.

Based on the limited scientific evidence available at the initial stages, a decision was made by the Director General of Health Services of the Ministry of Health to cremate all dead bodies of COVID-19 positive patients. Since then, there has been significant unrest among some communities regarding the government’s decision to impose compulsory cremation as the only avenue of disposal of COVID-19 deaths. This has the potential to cause much civil unrest. As a result, it was also found that people were generally reluctant to cooperate with the COVID control measures implemented by the Government. Many of them avoided seeing doctors and hence there were several deaths occurring at home without seeking medical attention or treatment.

“In view of all these considerations, the SLMA decided to review the situation as a matter of urgency, taking into account some new scientific knowledge available now regarding the COVID-19 disease. It was noted that good health means physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing.

“The significant adverse impact currently experienced by close family members and loved ones of COVID deaths and the disposal of bodies were also considered.

“SLMA had a meeting of the medical experts in all relevant fields on 31st December 2020. After extensive deliberations the following observations were made based solely on the currently available scientific evidence.

1. COVID infection occurs only through respiratory route. There are no reported infections through any other routes, including the gastro-intestinal portal.

2. Virus itself can thrive only inside a living cell. As such, it is unlikely that it could remain infectious within a dead body for any significant period of time.

3. A positive PCR found post-mortem does not necessarily mean that the dead body is infectious.

4. Contamination of water supply by sewage, consisting of excretions and secretions of COVID-19 infected patients could be much worse than any possible contamination from buried corpses.

5. Although there are a few instances reported where viral particles have been isolated from ground water, there are no reports of them being infective. There are no records of such infection even with older viruses like influenza and SARS-CoV-I, which have been studied in much greater detail.

6. The reported planned exhumation and cremation of large numbers of minks culled in Denmark was not due to any possible contamination of water resources by the virus. It was due to a large amount of nitrogenous waste from these decomposing mink carcasses contaminating the nearby water sources and polluting the environment.

7. Even in the case of severe waterborne diseases like Cholera, burial of corpses was one of the practices of disposal of infected dead bodies.

“Based on these observations made, relying on currently available scientific information, the council of the Sri Lanka Medical Association is with the view that burial of COVID-19 dead bodies could be permitted in Sri Lanka.”