Mumbai, March 30: Dead bodies of those died due to coronavirus will be cremated irrespective of religion, according to a circular issued by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi on Monday. In the circular, Praveen Pardeshi added that bodies of COVID-19 victims won't be allowed to be buried and only five people can attend the funeral. Coronavirus Outbreak Live News Updates on March 30.

While Hindus and Sikhs cremate bodies, Muslims and Christians bury them. "If someone insists to bury the body, they will only be permitted if the body is taken out of Mumbai city's jurisdiction," the BMC chief clarified. Earlier, China had issued an order that people who died due to coronavirus should not be buried but cremated quickly. China had said that the burial of their dead bodies could increase the risk of disease transmission.

Maharashtra has been the worst-affected state in the country amid the coronavirus outbreak. The number of coronavirus cases has crossed 200 in Maharashtra, including nine deaths. The latest casualty was the first for Pune and ninth for Maharashtra. Mumbai had earlier recorded seven corona deaths and Buldhans one. A total of 38 patients have recovered and discharged from hospitals, including from Mumbai, Pune, Yavatmal, Nagpur and Aurangabad.

As many as 17,151 persons are in home-quarantine and 960 in institutional quarantine in Maharashtra. The global death toll due to coronavirus has crossed 35,000, with Italy heading the list of 35,097 deaths with 10,779, while the number of cumulative cases rose to 737,929, with the US leading with 143,055 of them, as per data from the Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Centre.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2020 07:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).