Overseas Pakistanis allowed to bring back bodies of COVID-19 victims

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

The government has granted permission to overseas Pakistanis to bring the bodies of COVID-19 victims home but after strictly following the guidelines issued by the health ministry and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to avoid the spread of infections.

Aviation Division’s spokesman Abdul Sattar Khokhar said that the government has allowed the overseas Pakistanis to bring the bodies of COVID-19 victims back home but after following the guidelines of the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination.

A special flight arranged by the US government departed for Lahore carrying around 150 Pakistani students.

He said that so far no such body has been airlifted to Pakistan from abroad. However, two such requests have been made from France and Barcelona. The body should be enclosed in a sealed coffin in compliance with the airlines’ rules and regulations.

Under the guidelines, anyone coming in contact with the body must ensure the standard preventive measures, including hand washing and disinfection pre- and post-interaction with the body.

Minimum number of staff should be involved in handling and transferring of the body and they should wear appropriate personal protective equipment, long-sleeved fluid resistant gown, gloves, face shield or goggles, N95 mask and boots.

The environmental surfaces or waiting rooms where the body was kept before transferring to the aircraft should be disinfected and cleaned properly. While air transporting, the body should be wrapped in two clothes soaked in 10 per cent formalin solution.

Meanwhile, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) special flight carrying 380 passengers has departed for Barcelona from Islamabad International Airport. Before boarding the aircraft, all passengers were subjected to scanning and health check. Besides, the aircraft was also disinfected. The PIA flight will return to Islamabad carrying the Pakistanis stranded in Spain.