Abstract
Dear editor
A devastating second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has hit India. According to the World Health Organization’s situation report (released on 28 April 2021), India reported the highest number of daily cases of COVID-19 in the world. These accounted for half the number of new cases reported worldwide. 1 On 30 April 2021, 402,110 new cases were reported on a single day, with a new death toll of 3522 for the same day. 2 This second wave is believed to have been caused by four reported mutant variants: VOC 202012/01 (the UK variant), 501Y.V2 (the South African variant), P.1 (the Brazil variant) and the double-mutant strain combining variants L452R and E484Q. 3 With this, the number of infected cases has soared, as has the death toll, resulting in difficulties in obtaining places to cremate bodies. Images on social media and news headlines depict corpses stacked in the streets. Meanwhile, crematoriums are exhausted and cannot keep pace with the increasing number of deaths, and many makeshift funeral sites have been installed in open spaces.
The situation is similar in Nepal, which shares open borders with India. During the initial days of the pandemic, the government instructed the Nepalese Army to dispose of dead bodies. Therefore, the army took bodies wrapped in polythene bags and disposed of them in remote places. However, their locations were not known to family members. Later, it was found that excavators had been used to dig holes in secluded parts of the jungle, and bodies were buried in the dark. This was only discovered later, when an excavator broke down during digging, and the public became aware of what had happened. The subsequent public protest then made news headlines, after it was realised that the dignity of the dead had been compromised.
In Nepal and India, most people follow the practice of disposing of the dead body of their beloved family member on a funeral pyre, one at a time. However, there are now images showing small congested spaces being used to lay funeral pyres for dozens of bodies at the same time.
In many respects, the COVID-19 pandemic has put humanity at risk. Families that have been bereaved may wish to look upon their loved ones for the last time, touch them and wish them a final goodbye. However, due to the highly contagious nature of the disease, this final goodbye is often restricted to a glimpse while wearing personal protective equipment and a face mask. 4 On some occasions, not even this is allowed.
In Nepal, the worsening pandemic has limited the movement of people, and the government has imposed a complete lockdown in most affected districts. Many bodies must be carried on bicycles, motorbikes, carts, autorickshaws or manually carried to the funeral ground. Meanwhile, the focus is understandably on health-care systems which, although overburdened and exhausted, continue to focus upon the treatment of the living. At the same time, there seems to be little to offer the dead when it comes to dignity.
