COVID-19 dead dispute - Funeral operators tussle over body storage guidelines

WESTERN BUREAU:

Persons in western Jamaica who lose family members to COVID-19 could find themselves in a dilemma as stakeholders in the Funeral Directors Association of Jamaica (FDAJ) have expressed uncertainty about state guidance on handling and storing diseased bodies.

Melvin Honeyghan, president of the FDAJ, has criticised the Government for failing to offer guidance on the handling of victims of the virus.

The CEO of Honeyghans Funeral Service and West Palm Memorial Gardens in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, said that unlike in 2014 when Jamaica prepared for an Ebola outbreak, the Government had not educated funeral operators on COVID-19 protocols.

“In that time, there was a meeting between us and the Government,” Honeyghan told The Gleaner. “Now, to date, no information towards the coronavirus has been related to us.”

TRAINED AND QUALIFIED

However, Calvin Lyn, who heads the Jamaica Association of Certified Embalmers and Funeral Directors (JACEFD), has countered the claim, saying that his organisation, which is certified, accredited and recognised internationally, has been in dialogue with the Government and has been operating according to guidelines.

“We have met with the government twice (March 10 and March 19) and we are operating on the guidelines we have established with them,” said Lyn. “I am not about putting down the other group, but our members are trained and qualified and we are recognised for what we do by the Ministry of National Security.”

According to Lyn, the JACEFD has handled the funeral arrangements of three of the four local COVID-19 victims.

Unlike Lyn, Honeyghan is contending that with no guidance from the Government, his knowledge about COVID-19 mortuary protocol has been garnered through research.

“When I sit and observe the whole protocol of the coronavirus, I think the Government needs to take responsibility and order the minister of health to speak to us at large, to tell us what is expected when it comes to a patient who died from coronavirus and what is the way forward,” said Honeyghan.