Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said that corpses of persons who tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) would not be released for burial to their family members.
Speaking at a forum organized by the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja today, Lai Mohammed, said such corpses would be handled by the Ministry of Health because they are contagious.
“Coronavirus is very dangerous and contagious; there is no medicine for it yet and it is not just capable of killing, overwhelming healthcare system, it will destroy the economy. In some countries, they are putting dead bodies in big refrigerators, because the morgues have filled up. Nigerians should not forget that these are not the type of corpses that can be claimed for burial because it must be handled by the ministry of health,” he said.
The Minister seized the opportunity to applaud Nigerians for complying with the stay at home order of their state governments to curb the spread of the virus.
Nigeria currently has 190 cases of COVID-19 with 2 fatalities. 20 persons have been discharged from the Infectious disease hospital Lagos.