Kolkata, June 6: Family members of the person who dies of coronavirus (COVID-19) will be allowed to pay last respects in West Bengal. The Mamata Banerjee government on Saturday revised Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for holding of dead bodies of those die due to coronavirus. As per the revised SOPs, the hospital will inform the family members within an hour if a person dies of COVID-19. Mamata Banerjee Denies Rumours About Lack of Beds in Kolkata Hospitals for Treating COVID-19 Patients.

"In the event of death of a patient, the hospital authorities shall inform the family members within one hour of death. A body cover with transparent face area shall be used. The body cover supplied earlier shall not be used. Mask and gloves will be provided to the family members by the concerned hospital after proper sanitisation," read the revised guidelines issued by the West Bengal government. West Bengal Shares with Central Team Details of over Rs 1 Lakh Crore Damages Caused by 'Amphan'.

"The dead body should be kept at a suitable place for 30 minutes during which family members shall be allowed to pay their last respects," it added. There have been reports when family members of COVID-19 patients were informed after cremation or burial of the dead body. Besides, people have been seeking permission to pay last respects to those die of coronavirus. However, previous guidelines had no such relaxations.

West Bengal Allows Families to Pay Last Respects to COVID-19 Deceased:

With the biggest-ever jump of 9,887 new cases and 294 deaths in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 tally in India reached 2,36,657 on Saturday. The country has now overtaken Italy, which has recorded 2,34,531 cases. Presently, there are 1,15,942 active cases and all are under active medical supervision. So far, a total of 1,14,073 patients have been cured of COVID-19, while 6,642 lost the battle against the pandemic so far.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 06, 2020 09:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).