Gestión de los cadáveres durante la pandemia por COVID-19 en España

Proposal for a harmonized protocol for COVID-19 screening and necropsy in forensic sciences facilities

“…An autoclave should be available inside the autopsy room to decontaminate the infected waste material before definitive disposal. 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 Contrary to personal protection equipment (which are a sine qua non requirement for autopsy procedure), we believe that partial deficits in facilities might be overcome by pre-perfusion with 4% formaldehyde.…”

Brain donation in the era of COVID 19: challenges to the harvest in the face of a pandemic

“…Never before have funerals become such a complicated and uncertain social ritual. At the beginning of the pandemic, the public health recommendations in many countries prohibited washing bodies for funeral arrangements and mandated cremation or burial within 24 hours of the time of death (Crubezy and Telmon 2020 ; Gonzalez et al 2020 ). It was later determined that the transmission of the virus from corpses was low, allowing governments around the world to ameliorate the established measures and extend the timeframe for inhumation.…”

“…It was later determined that the transmission of the virus from corpses was low, allowing governments around the world to ameliorate the established measures and extend the timeframe for inhumation. However, vigils and family gatherings to honor the dead were forbidden since they violated social distancing measures (Gonzalez et al 2020 ). The change in recommendations encouraged the creation of temporary morgues in the form of refrigerated trucks, which became prevalent worldwide due to the unprecedented number of decedents (Gonzalez et al 2020 ).…”

“…However, vigils and family gatherings to honor the dead were forbidden since they violated social distancing measures (Gonzalez et al 2020 ). The change in recommendations encouraged the creation of temporary morgues in the form of refrigerated trucks, which became prevalent worldwide due to the unprecedented number of decedents (Gonzalez et al 2020 ). Furthermore, if family members did not claim the bodies or the next of kin failed to cover funeral arrangements, common graves were used to dispose of them.…”

Medico-legal issues of COVID-19 pandemic

“…González-Fernández et al cover the management of corpses during a pandemic. 12 The region which suffered the highest rate of infections in Spain was the Community of Madrid. Andreu and Donat describe the specific response of the Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences Institute ( Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses ) of the Community of Madrid, which had commenced working just before the pandemic struck.…”