Don't wait for death certificate to remove bodies of Covid suspected cases, says Firhad Hakim

KOLKATA: Firhad Hakim, chairman of Board of Administrators Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) directed the ward coordinators on Tuesday to arrange for immediate removal and preservation of bodies of Covid suspected cases without waiting for death certificates from doctors. The move comes with allegations of inordinate delay in removal of such bodies being reported from some places within the city.

The state government on Tuesday came out with a notification that the Board of Administrators of all urban local bodies including KMC should start functioning as it did before restrictions were imposed by the Election Commission soon after the announcement of poll dates in Bengal.

"There have been some stray cases of delay in removal of Covid suspected bodies due to non-availability of death certificates. No matter, if there is delay in the arrival of RT-PCR test report that adjudge whether a person is Covid positive or not, the body should be removed and preserved immediately. When the report comes a particular body should be handed over to the family members if the report is negative, while if it is positive necessary steps should be taken for cremation of the body following Covid protocols. But you (coordinators) should ensure that bodies should not remain for a long time creating unnecessary panic in the surrounding area," Hakim said in a meeting with coordinators.

He further directed coordinators to mobilise health workers for door-to-door surveillance and in case a person with symptoms like high fever is detected, he or she should be immediately removed to the Safe Homes in coordination with KMC's Health department.

The KMC already has 12 ambulances fitted with oxygen and a few more will be procured within a few days.

Hakim directed the coordinators to kick start an awareness campaign about Covid protocols by hiring auto rickshaws from Wednesday.