Grave diggers burying virus-hit people face huge threat to life

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Burial available 24 hours: Al-Awadi

KUWAIT CITY, June 16: Men facing death … they’re grave diggers who face danger throughout the day burying the corpses of patients who have died from the coronavirus, which until Sunday, stood at 296.

The state honors the grave diggers under category two, because they deal with the dead and their families, some of whom may have also been infected with the virus.

The daily investigated their achievements during the crisis and met the Director of Funeral Department at Kuwait Municipality Dr Faisal Al-Awadi. He said: “After the Council of Ministers assigned Kuwait Municipality to coordinate with the Ministry of Health, some preventive measures were taken to reduce the causes and spread of the epidemic.”

He revealed that 33,000 masks and 35,000 gloves were distributed to the cemeteries and centers affiliated to the funerals department: Sulaibikhat – Jahra – Sabhan Sewing Center – Jaafari – Non-Muslims – Movement Department – Administration, in addition to 1,380 hand sanitizers, 300 Photo by Bassam Abu Shanab People carrying food parcels provided by a charity organization in Hawally. face protectors, 5,000 protective clothing, and 14,000 sterilizers for equipment and buildings.

To protect workers in the administration such as excavators, washers, security guards and cleaners, a special housing was provided for them in all cemeteries and their facilities to ensure their safety and that of mourners by avoiding mixing and external gatherings, while providing all living necessities, he noted.

After the decision to close mosques in the country, all condolences halls were closed while the funeral prayer areas and places of condolence were transferred directly to the burial area. Only 5 people were specified to enter the cemeteries to bury the dead, then the number increased to 20, in addition to placing barriers around the burial place to reduce the gathering with application of the principle of social distancing, he said.

According to the fatwa of Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs No. 20/2020, concerning the ruling on washing corpse of infectious diseases such as corona disease, “Washing the dead Muslim is a duty of sufficiency and prevention of diseases for those who wash it is obligatory.”

Accordingly, the dead person must be washed taking all necessary precautions to prevent the person washing him from contracting infection, otherwise it is sufficient to spill water on him, if possible, and if it’s not possible, this can be satisfied with tayammum.

He also said: “If it is not possible, he is to be buried without washing. Then if washed or tayammum done or water spilled on the corpse, prayer is said by agreement, and if it’s impossible or it becomes difficult, just prayer on the corpse is sufficient, according to the opinion of some jurists.”

Al-Awadi mentioned that the Ministry of Health provided special bags for those dying of infectious diseases, and the corpse is transported inside the bags from the hospital to the cemetery.

Accordingly, the Infection Prevention Department recommends the bags not to be opened from the time the corpse is received until it is buried, and that prayers be said over the corpse in the open while the corpse is buried as soon as possible to reduce the chances of transmission.

To ensure the Funeral Affairs Administration keeps pace with the technological and electronic development, the “Kuwait Funerals” application has been launched to serves families of the deceased, mourners and visitors to the cemeteries, he said, noting the free application contains the names of deceased, burial dates, mourning addresses, instructions, directives, fatwas and provisions of funerals, work centers, working and non-working graves, their locations, and contact numbers of work centers.

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