Moreno warns funeral parlors vs refusing to accept COVID-19 dead

Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno. INQUIRER.net file photo / Noy Morcoso

MANILA, Philippines – Funeral parlors that would refuse to provide services to those who died of COVID-19 will be stripped of their permits, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno warned on Monday.

“To all the funeral homes: I don’t want a repeat of an incident where a bereaved family would be abused while they are grieving.  Don’t ever do that in these times,” Moreno was quoted as saying in Filipino in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Manila Public Information Office.

“You make a living looking for the dead.  If someone dies, you get him. Give him a proper and decent service,” he added.

It was unclear what incident Moreno was referring to. But Manila recently registered a death due to COVID-19, which brought the death toll in the city to two.

Last Feb. 6, after a Chinese citizen with COVID-19 died in the Philippines — the first casualty in the country and outside mainland China — reports circulated that the funeral parlor that had agreed to cremate the body backed out.

READ: Cremation of Chinese coronavirus fatality deferred, funeral parlor backs out – Duque

READ: One new COVID-19 case, one more death recorded in Manila

Moreno insisted that the high incidence of the latest coronavirus strain should not be used as a reason to deny servicing dead COVID-19 patients.

“If you are worried that they might be PUIs [patients under investigation], you know that there’s a protocol you should follow. You went into that business, then you should fulfill your duties,” Moreno stressed.

“I would not stand for companies that are abusive and opportunistic in times like these. would take advantage of these situations. You will regret it.  As long as I am the mayor of the City of Manila, you will never be allowed to do business again,” he added.

As of this writing, the whole of Luzon is still under an enhanced community quarantine due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

According to the Department of Health, as of this writing, there are already 462 confirmed cases in the Philippines, 33 of whom have already died and 18 have recovered.

Worldwide, over 334,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded, of whom 14,608 have died and 96,243 have recovered.

READ: Luzon now under ‘enhanced community quarantine’ – Palace

READ: DOH: 462 people now infected with COVID-19 in PH

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in Wuhan City in Hubei province in China in late 2019.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus is a family of viruses with surfaces having a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.

/atm