Covid-19: Namibians free to rebury relatives

Health minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula has announced that families can exhume the bodies of their loved ones who died from Covid-19 complications and were buried in a manner deemed undignified or isolative.Namibian Sun sough comment from the minister following media reports this week that President Hage Geingob, on recommendations of the national honours advisory committee, has granted permission for the family of the late Erongo Region governor Cleophas Mutjavikua to exhume his body.He died in a Grootfontein hospital in early 2021, reportedly due to complications related to Covid-19, and was buried in the town under the strict protocols that existed at the time to contain the spread of the virus.His remains will be exhumed on 4 November and will be buried at Ongongoro village in the Otjozondjupa Region.In a telephonic interview, Shangula said there are no health risks associated with the exhumation of bodies of people who died, especially due to Covid-19."This is not the first body that has been dug up and reburied somewhere else. Several bodies have been exhumed to be buried at a place preferred by the family. This is a regular exercise that the police would be asked to exhume a body to be examined," he said.No transporting of corpsesAs confusion and conspiracy theories soared during the pandemic, residents in many areas of the country demanded that Covid-19 victims be buried outside existing cemeteries, in fear that the virus would infect such places and affect future burials.Among the notable burials that sparked anger during the pandemic was when the country’s first victim of the virus – Walvis Bay man Elias Uutoni (45), who died in July 2020 – was buried in the dunes at Narraville.Like in the case of Mutjavikua, many Covid-19 victims could not be buried in their villages because transporting such corpses was prohibited under the regulations at the time. The government took charge of the burials.Omusati police regional commander, Commissioner Ismael Basson, told Namibian Sun yesterday that anyone who wishes to rebury family members has to follow the legal route."There is an application that would need to be put in at the magistrates court, which will then decide whether or not the requested body can be exhumed and reburied,” he said.“I don&#039;t think the people digging up the body would have to wear protective gear, seeing that it would be a body that has severely decomposed. Members of the police, who will be doing the digging up, will be directed by the court as to what they should or should not do," he said.The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that between 3 January 2020 and 25 October 2023, there were 172 123 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Namibia, with 4 100 deaths reported.

Covid-19: Namibians free to rebury relatives

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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Covid-19: Namibians free to rebury relatives

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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