Ondo government has issued a one-month ultimatum for residents to retrieve and bury corpses of relatives in state-run mortuaries in efforts to decongest public mortuaries.
Health commissioner Wahab Adegbenro said morgues in government hospitals are already congested and if urgent measures are not taken, it will constitute public health hazards to residents of the state.
The commissioner said the government wasn’t being insensitive to “culture, traditions and feelings” but insisted the ultimatum was in the best interest of all.
After the ultimatum ends, all unclaimed and unburied bodies in government mortuaries across the state may be given a mass burial.
Restrictions brought on by Covid-19 do not include prohibition of burials, but the government insists burial services must be held at grave sides with no more than 20 people adhering to social distancing.
Burial services or partying after burials are not allowed, face masks must be worn by all attending the funeral, and handwashing stations must be provided
It is an offence to go outdoors without a face mask, an offence that attracts a 14-day quarantine.
