The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said that corpses of persons who tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) cannot be claimed for burial.
While speaking at Abuja, on the activities of the presidential task force on COVID-19, he said such corpses would be handled by the ministry of health because they are contagious.
The Minister however, commended Nigerians for complying with the Federal Government’s stay-at-home directive, adding that it would boost the efforts of stakeholders in the fight to curb the spread of coronavirus.
According to him, “Coronavirus is very dangerous and contagious; there is no medicine for it yet and it is not just capable of killing, overwhelming healthcare system, it will destroy the economy”.
“In some countries, they are putting dead bodies in big refrigerators, because the morgues have filled up. Nigerians should not forget that these are not the type of corpses that can be claimed for burial because it must be handled by the ministry of health,” he said.
Mohammed therefore, called for the cooperation of citizens and asked them to, “stay safe, obey simple instructions of basic hygiene and social distancing,” adding that “in a few weeks, we will resume our normal life”.
Nigeria so far, has 190 cases of COVID-19. 24 persons have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital with 2 recoded deaths.