Lagos government approves regulations for burials to decongest mortuaries

The Lagos State Government has raised concern over inadequate space to keep corpses in its mortuaries, following lockdown which prevented families and relatives from funeral service and burial of the deceased.

Penpushing reports that, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu made this known at a press briefing on Saturday, saying the mortuaries need to be decongested urgently, just as he ordered that families can now take possession of corpses for burial

The Governor, however, gave conditions and requirement for the burials, which has it that: the total number of persons at the funeral, including officiating religious leaders, must not exceed 20,  physical distancing must be maintained at the funeral ceremony, all attendees/mourners must use masks and ensure they wash their hands after the ceremony and there  must be no receptions or parties to accompany the funerals.

The Governor, however, explained that, state of the morgues are not related to coronavirus but as a result of the inability of people to gather for funerals attributing the situation to the lockdown order  which caused many families and households to suspend or put off funeral plans.

Penpushing further reports that Sanwo-Olu stressed, “because of this inability to hold funerals, occasioned by the restriction on movement, the mortuaries in Lagos State are now full and in urgent need of decongestion’.

‘Let me make it clear at this point that these are not Covid-19 deaths. I am now constrained to make this appeal to all Lagosians who have the corpses of loved ones in the mortuaries, to please go ahead and schedule these funerals’, he said.

“The mortuaries in Lagos are not full because of Covid-19 deaths –the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Lagos as at today is 20; the only reason the mortuaries are full at this time is because funerals are not being held, and have not been held for most of the last two months’, hesaid,”

Penpushing  also reports that, Sanwo-Olu added that, he needed to make it clear that funerals are on the list of activities exempted from the lockdown restrictions, noting that  Lagosians can hold or attend funeral ceremonies in the state as long as they comply with the requirements of the state.

The Governor emphasised that as long as these directives are fully complied with, funerals will be allowed and encouraged to take place, adding, “if we are unable to see a decongestion of the mortuaries across the state in the next two weeks, the Lagos State Government will be compelled to carry out mass burials to achieve this. We do not want to be forced to do this, which is why we are asking for your cooperation in this regard,” he said.