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Forum: Existing rules do not allow funeral directors to handle Covid-19 deaths at home, Forum News & Top Stories

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Members of the Association of Funeral Directors Singapore, and other funeral providers, are disheartened by the response from the Ministry of Health (MOH) on the case of a 99-year-old Covid-19 patient who died at home and whose family faced challenges in getting an undertaker to convey his body to the mortuary (Best efforts made to facilitate Covid-19 home recovery requests, Nov 4).

In MOH’s response on Mr Teo’s death, it said that its processes “allowed him to be conveyed to the mortuary but the undertakers were reluctant to do so”.

It is important for all to understand the existing regulations governing this.

Funeral directors, as of now, are permitted to handle bodies of Covid-19 patients only at hospital mortuaries. Even the casketing of the body has to be done on the mortuary premises. The regulations do not allow funeral directors to do this anywhere else. We believe these regulations were issued after having taken into consideration the health and safety of funeral front-line workers and other concerns of public health.

In Mr Teo’s case, the funeral director who was asked to assist but did not was complying with regulations set out by MOH. The funeral director would run afoul of the law if he had proceeded to move Mr Teo away from the residence.

Funeral directors provide a professional service with care, compassion and dignity for the deceased and the grieving family. We are aware of the emotional pain families face from Covid-19 deaths and the restrictions placed on them for the final farewell to their loved ones.

We are here for the community. However, we cannot break the rules that govern the handling of persons who die of Covid-19. We do not make the rules.

We urge the relevant authorities to work together, and with funeral professionals, to come up with a set of procedures and regulations that can make it acceptable and humane for all concerned.

If we are to allow persons with Covid-19 to undergo home recovery, we need to accept that some people will die at home.

MOH must amend its guidelines to allow funeral directors to do what has to be done in residential premises to help grieving families.

We are lost as to why the ministry claims that funeral directors are reluctant to assist grieving families when we are dutifully bound to abide by its protocols and rules.

Jeffrey Lee

Secretary

Association of Funeral Directors Singapore




Members of the Association of Funeral Directors Singapore, and other funeral providers, are disheartened by the response from the Ministry of Health (MOH) on the case of a 99-year-old Covid-19 patient who died at home and whose family faced challenges in getting an undertaker to convey his body to the mortuary (Best efforts made to facilitate Covid-19 home recovery requests, Nov 4).

In MOH’s response on Mr Teo’s death, it said that its processes “allowed him to be conveyed to the mortuary but the undertakers were reluctant to do so”.

It is important for all to understand the existing regulations governing this.

Funeral directors, as of now, are permitted to handle bodies of Covid-19 patients only at hospital mortuaries. Even the casketing of the body has to be done on the mortuary premises. The regulations do not allow funeral directors to do this anywhere else. We believe these regulations were issued after having taken into consideration the health and safety of funeral front-line workers and other concerns of public health.

In Mr Teo’s case, the funeral director who was asked to assist but did not was complying with regulations set out by MOH. The funeral director would run afoul of the law if he had proceeded to move Mr Teo away from the residence.

Funeral directors provide a professional service with care, compassion and dignity for the deceased and the grieving family. We are aware of the emotional pain families face from Covid-19 deaths and the restrictions placed on them for the final farewell to their loved ones.

We are here for the community. However, we cannot break the rules that govern the handling of persons who die of Covid-19. We do not make the rules.

We urge the relevant authorities to work together, and with funeral professionals, to come up with a set of procedures and regulations that can make it acceptable and humane for all concerned.

If we are to allow persons with Covid-19 to undergo home recovery, we need to accept that some people will die at home.

MOH must amend its guidelines to allow funeral directors to do what has to be done in residential premises to help grieving families.

We are lost as to why the ministry claims that funeral directors are reluctant to assist grieving families when we are dutifully bound to abide by its protocols and rules.

Jeffrey Lee

Secretary

Association of Funeral Directors Singapore

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