Kenya Reviews Protocols for Burial of Covid-19 Victims, to Get Rid of 'Men in White'

Health officials wearing hazmat suits will no longer be tasked with burying Covid-19 victims in Kenya, the government has said.

The Health Ministry is set to release revised burial protocols aimed at addressing the stigma associated with the “men in white”, according to the Head of Public Health, Dr. Francis Kuria.

“We know people have had concerns over the ‘men in white’, we hope the protocols as we roll them out will make sure you do not see so many men in white again,” said Kuria.

“We have finalized the revised protocols that are going to guide us while conducting burials moving forward…hopefully, the protocols are going to address the concerns of stigma…”

Under the new guidelines, bodies of Covid-19 victims will be released to the next-of-kin for the final send-off after it emerged that the risk of infection is negligible. Kuria said such burials will be supervised at a lower scale to minimize stigmatization.

 “The risks of transmission during burial are almost nil. That is if the proper regulations to conduct burials are observed,” noted Kuria. He said these measures will ensure mourners do not have contact with bodily fluids of the deceased during burial.

The move follows a study that established that the main mode of Covid-19 transmission is via droplets, which means that bodies of Covid-19 victims are not as infectious as previously thought.