"COVID-19 Deaths, Detailed Procedures Being Prepared to Allow Cremation After Funeral" (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] The quarantine authorities are revising related guidelines to allow COVID-19 deceased to be cremated after the funeral.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) stated at a back briefing on the 17th, "We are promoting revisions in a safe direction from a quarantine perspective while maintaining the dignity of the deceased and ensuring the family's mourning."

The funeral guidelines distributed in February stipulated that, to prevent the spread of infection, COVID-19 deceased must be cremated first with the consent of the family before holding the funeral. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends preventive measures to avoid infection when in contact with the body.

On this day, Ko Jae-young, Crisis Communication Team Leader of the Disease Control Headquarters, said, "There have been many opinions regarding 'cremation first, funeral later' so far," and added, "There were also many criticisms asking for improvements to allow a longer farewell time."

Team Leader Ko said, "We will revise the guidelines to allow cremation after the funeral," and added, "We plan to prepare detailed procedures to alleviate infection concerns for funeral workers and funeral facilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.