The dead body management in pandemic conditions COVID-19

Abstract

Dead body management is one of the most challenging aspects of responding to public health emergencies, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. During the active phase of the pandemic, in less than 2 years, more than 6 million deaths were recorded worldwide, about 1,200,000 in Europe and more than 11,000 in the Republic of Moldova caused by infection with the SARS CoV-2. The high loss of life highlights the limited response capabilities. And the absence of recommendations and effective management amplifies the problems, often resulting in the mismanagement of corpses. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the aspects related to the management of dead bodies under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to develop recommendations for improving management. In order to achieve the goal and objectives, a quantitative study was conducted that included the general group of 245 respondents (150 anesthesiologists - resuscitation doctors, 65 morphopathologists and 30 epidemiologists) from the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, a qualitative study was carried out in 4 focus groups in which 9 anesthesiologists-reanimatologists, 5 morphopathologists and 5 epidemiologists participated. The results of the research reflected several aspects regarding the management of corpses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the normative acts, which regulate the management of corpses in public health emergencies, the possible epidemiological danger that may be presented by the corpses of those who died of COVID-19, the opportunity the anatomopathological autopsy and how to inform the relatives about the patient’s death and the possible risks related to infection during the funeral.