Zimbabwe issues directive on covid-19 burials

The government of Zimbabwe has issued fresh directives on how covid-19 victims must be laid to rest. Now, the deceased must be buried in the city where they died. The move is to help curtail further spread of the coronavirus across the Southern African nation. But the issue is this is not a culture in a country where the dead is buried in the same place as their ancestors.

''I don’t think dead bodies are harmful because it’s just taking the body and burying it. I think the only thing they should ban maybe its viewing, if it’s contagious maybe viewing yes but transporting the body that is in a casket, I don’t see anything that is bad about transporting the body to their respective places'', Taxi Driver, Chakanetsa Hafandi said

A local resident Kepe Kepe said ''It’s just like cremation and this also is uncultured because the departed should be buried where they were born and bred. We only came to the city to work and look for money and we get buried were our ancestors live.''

It is unclear whether all bodies will now be treated as COVID-19 cases. Covid-19 infections has so far claimed 507 lives in Zimbabwe.

The country has recently witnessed a surge in COVID-19 infections, recording 21,477 cases and 507 deaths since the first reported case on March 20, 2020.