Bereavement Team has been set up to look at assisting families who are COVID positive, to bury or cremate their loved ones

A Bereavement Team has been set up to look at assisting families who are struggling to bury or cremate their loved ones.

COVID-19 is really taking a toll on the mortuary as it is filled to capacity and families are unable to bury or cremate their loved ones. We have received confirmation that the family members are themselves in isolation as they are COVID positive and no one is available to bury their loved ones.

In some cases, the deceased had come from out of Suva, had COVID-19 and passed away, and their families are stuck in places like Kadavu.

With the increasing number of COVID-19 related deaths and the mortuary getting full in Suva, the Ministry of Health has now placed a freezer container and is also using a cooler truck for the bodies.

It was earlier stated that the 60 spaces in the Suva morgue were all occupied.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the mortuary fees will be waived for those families who are COVID positive and cannot take the body for burial.

Doctor Fong says they now have a Bereavement Team which includes Fiji Corrections Service, medical and mortuary representatives.

He says they will start by negotiating with the family and extended relatives to carry out small rituals.

Meanwhile bed spaces to care for COVID patients is also a concern.

More beds are being set up at Sacred Heart College at Queen Elizabeth Drive in Suva, and in halls at Queen Victoria School and Ratu Kadavulevu School.

The 7-day average of new cases is 696 cases per day or 787 cases per million population per day.

Doctor Fong says with daily increases in cases, we are also seeing increasing cases of severe COVID-19 and increasing deaths.

He is asking all Fijians to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Doctor Fong says they also urge our fellow citizens to continue taking all COVID-19 safety measures.

Remember to correctly wear your mask, wash or sanitize hands frequently, download and utilize the careFIJI application, visit a screening clinic if you and any of your family members experience the signs and symptoms of COVID-19, and maintain physical distancing measures.