Mbasa Voyi , Director,  Compliance Factory, An organization that advocates for compliance within the insurance and funer

The ministerial advisory committee (MAC) on Covid-19 has told Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize that government must abolish the practice of wrapping coffins of the Covid-19 dead.The committee said unlike Ebola, Covid-19 cannot be transmitted from a corpse. It also stressed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has clarified the difference between death from Ebola and Covid-19 and the burial requirement for each.The committee, which includes Professor Salim S Abdool Karim, said the practice contravenes certain cultural beliefs and rituals. It added that consequently, some graves have been dug up, the bodies illegally exhumed and the plastic coverings removed and the coffin reburied without approval and following guidelines.Some reports indicate that some funeral parlours have been charging up to R7 500 to wrap a coffin with plastic as a measure to prevent Covid-19 transmission.