27 Apr 2021

An official from Greater Gaborone District Health Management Team (DHMT), Ms Onkabetse Molefane says wearing of full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including coveralls and shoe covers is not recommended during burials.

Ms Molefane, who is DHMT Infection Prevention and Control Officer said in an interview that PPE was technical and if not properly handled after use could risk further spread of the COVID- 19.

She said PPE was expensive to acquire and it would not be right for government to demand such costly materials from families during times of grieve.

She reiterated that the nation should bear in mind that COVID-19 related corpses were properly and adequately prepared at the mortuary to hinder any further re-occurrence or spread of the virus.

Ms Molefane emphasised that the level of protection was high, hence PPE was declared not necessary during burial.  

She demonstrated that facilities and mortuaries strove to control the spread of COVID-19 from the corpse to make sure that the risk of transfer was at zero, henceforth the corpse was not meant for viewing at home, but only at the mortuary.

However, she recommended masks to be mandatory in every setting, citing that they should be worn during burials.

Also, she said hands should be washed thoroughly and sanitised after burial to avoid the spread of the virus.

Ms Molefane advised that caskets should only be handled by one group to avoid many people getting in contact with it, something she deemed risky as it could lead to virus spread.

After all experienced circumstances prevalent during COVID-19 burials, the full wearing of PPE was seen to pose serious stigma by the community, particularly to aggrieved families, she explained.

She warned that stigma had the potential to cause mental health problems for many in community members after COVID-19 had subsided and the trauma caused may influence people to shun healthcare treatments, a cause for concern and one thing that societies should be mindful of.

Ms Molefane illustrated that Botswana as a member of World Health Organization (WHO) had adopted standard guidelines set by WHO, but tailor-made some to suit the nation and its demand.

She explained that set guidelines were bound to change as COVID-19 was forever evolving and if need be, alterations would be made.

For instance, in South Africa, full PPE was seen being worn at funerals and this could be based on the COVID-19 variant currently being experienced by the nation, she said. ENDS