The Health and Family Welfare Department today issued protocols listing out when a dead body should be tested for Covid-19.
In several instances over the last few months, people have been brought dead to hospital and subsequent tests on the bodies have revealed that they had Covid-19. In view of the worrying numbers, the government has urged the public to get treated if they develop symptoms of the disease.
The notification today says that all those who are declared dead in a place other than a medical institution may be tested using the rapid antigen test (RAT) to confirm the presence of Covid-19.
The criteria for testing a dead body for the coronavirus includes if the person was suffering from fever, cough, breathlessness, loss of appetite, general weakness or diarrhoea in the last week, if the deceased had recently been in contact with a Covid-positive person and had been classified as a high-risk contact, if any family members are Covid-positive or if they lived within an area that had a high number of coronavirus infections.
