The government will retrieve COVID-19 fatalities from hospitals and cremate them within 12 hours as the bodies have begun to pile up at the East Avenue Medical Center.
READ: COVID-19 Tracker: PHILIPPINES as of April 12
National Task Force COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Office of the Civil Defense have been tasked to retrieve the bodies, which are filling up morgues and storage spaces in many hospitals to prevent the virus from spreading further.
As of April 12, the Department of Health reported that there were 247 deaths due to COVID-19 while there were 4,428 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.
“The rule is to cremate the body within 12 hours upon death… to prevent contamination,” Galvez said in a TV interview. “Within 12 hours, we will take the picture, then cremate [the body] because it will have health implications,” he added.
Galvez said in some hospitals, relatives of the deceased just leave the bodies behind.
EAMC spokesman Dr. Dennis Ordoña told CNN Philippines that bodies have piled up in the hallway of the hospital’s morgue due to lack of equipment, such as freezers, to store the bodies.
He also said it was possible that relatives cannot claim the remains of their loved ones due to the prevailing Luzon-wide lockdown.
READ: Government posts rules for wakes, burials
“The capacity of our morgue is for five patients,” Ordoña told CNN. “The highest number we’ve recorded so far are 20 cadavers which have not yet been picked up.”
“Honestly, there are bodies that have started to smell. We admit that the stench reaches other areas of the hospital,” he added.
Earlier, GMA-7 news anchor Arnold Clavio, citing a frontliner, posted on his Instagram account that cadavers were littering one hospital’s hallways.
But Ordoña refuted the claim of the frontliner, saying the cadavers were in the morgue hallway, which is separate from the main hospital.
He also pointed out that so far, none of the bodies have tested positive for COVID-19. He said they are still waiting for test results to know if they have the virus.
In a Sunday press conference, Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire acknowledged that they have yet to determine if the patients whose bodies have piled up in the hospital were COVID-19-positive.
She said this would be clear in the next few days.
In an earlier statement, EAMC director Dr. Alfonso Nuñez said they are continuously recording and reporting COVID-related death numbers to the Health department’s Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.
On Sunday morning, Health Secretary Francisco Duque inspected EAMC and met with its management amid reports of cadavers piling up in the hospital morgue.
Following this, Duque said arrangements were made with local government units and the MMDA for the speedy transport and cremation or burial of cadavers, to contain any risk these may pose.
The Quezon City Council was tasked to manage any unclaimed bodies and shoulder the cost of cremation if funding from next of kin is unavailable.
EAMC said it has long been looking for a mobile freezer to accommodate the bodies to be claimed, where they are COVID-19 cases or not.
On Sunday, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases denied that the government is suppressing information regarding COVID-19 fatalities.
Cabinet Secretary and IATF spokesman Karlo Nograles made this remark following reports that a hospital in Metro Manila was instructed to stop counting COVID-19 deaths.
Nograles said the Department of Health has already clarified that it has never issued any order to stop the census of COVID-19 fatalities in any health facility.
“There is no order to conceal COVID-19 fatalities. That is illegal,” Nograles said in Filipino.
He emphasized that various government functionaries regularly appear before the media to give updates on the different actions being taken in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We recognize that it is our responsibility to give you the facts, all the facts, and nothing but the facts. You deserve nothing less,” he said.
He also warned against sharing fake news or rumors circulating on social media.
“Our efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak must be complemented by our efforts to contain misinformation and disinformation,” he said.
Under the “Bayanihan To Heal As One Act” or Republic Act 11469, fake news peddlers may be penalized with imprisonment of two months or a fine ranging from P10,000 to P1 million.
Nograles, meanwhile, reminded funeral homes to cremate the remains of COVID-19 fatalities within 12 hours from the time of death as stipulated under the IATF funeral guidelines or protocols.
He also urged funeral homes to start the process of cremation without waiting for payments.
On March 25, Nograles said a P25,000 “funeral support fund” will be given to the family of indigents who died due COVID-19.
He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development will be providing the fund to indigents who suffered from Covid-19, whether confirmed, suspected or probable cases.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said LGUs should assign funeral service facilities that can cremate the remains within 12 hours from the time of death.
If the deceased is a Muslim, he said the remains should be placed in an air-tight sealed bag or container and buried in the nearest Muslim cemetery within 12 hours while observing Muslim rites.
Nograles said LGUs will also be tasked to provide “possible financial assistance to cover the logistics, fuel, salary, and other expenses that will be incurred in the process.”
He noted that the Department of the Interior and Local Government and LGUs will monitor and penalize funeral homes that refuse to provide logistics and transport remains of COVID-19 cases.
At the same time, Nograles said the IATF will look into the proposal to bury health workers who die while treating COVID-19 in the Heroes’ Cemetery in Taguig City.
He said, however, that a law might have to be amended to accommodate the fallen health workers at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
