Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Management of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) has written to Governor Douye Diri over congestion at the hospital mortuary.
Governor Diri had banned burials in the state in the wake of the lockdown to curtail spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
The officials were said to have complained to the management that the mortuary needs to be decongested to avoid health concerns in the hospital
The management, however, called on Diri to waive the executive order restraining burials to check the spread of coronavirus and allow the dead to be buried by their families.
The consultant pathologist at the FMC morgue in Yenagoa, Alawode Kehinde, said the morgue needs to be evacuated between now and June.
“The situation may become very difficult to manage and also for those burying because after then, the rains will be heavier which is usually not too okay for burials,” he said.
Kehinde said in view of the anticipated difficulty, a letter had being sent to Diri to grant those with corpses in the morgue to evacuate them for burial and that hopefully, if the request is granted, such burials will be done under strict compliance to social distancing.