On Saturday, two containers were parked outside the mortuary of RML hospital. (Photo: Amit Mehra)

With the mortuary at RML Hospital running full as Covid test results of the deceased are awaited, the hospital has hired a refrigerated container to ensure adequate space to store the bodies. “The capacity of the mortuary at the hospital isn’t much. It can accommodate only 18 bodies. The container can accommodate another 12,” said Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, medical superintendent of RML hospital.

She said that the refrigerated container was sourced in April, and this is the first time that the hospital is using it.

On Saturday, two containers were parked outside the mortuary of RML hospital. “The container sent by the company in April has lesser capacity, so it’s being replaced,” said Dr Bhardwaj.

She said that the need for a refrigerated container arose as “bodies cannot be released until the Covid-19 test result comes”. “Sometimes, a patient expires before his Covid-19 test result comes, in which case we have to wait for the result before releasing the body,” she said.

A source at RML hospital told The Indian Express that sometimes the test results take more than five days to come.

The source said, “In those five days, other people also die, and the number keeps increasing. In pre-Covid-19 world, most bodies would be handed over to kin of the dead within a day, sometimes two if police formalities take time. So, the hospital never felt mortuary capacity was inadequate.”

New SOPs

The Delhi government has issued fresh standard operating protocols for disposal of Covid positive and suspected patients at mortuaries. As per the new rules, hospitals will have to send dead bodies to the mortuary within two hours. If the family of the deceased has contacted the hospital within 12 hours of death, the cremation will have to be carried out in the next 24 hours. But if no one has contacted, intimation will be sent to them through area SHO to attend the funeral at the cremation/burial ground.

In case of unidentified bodies, the Delhi Police will complete all legal formalities within 72 hours of death and dispose of the body in the next 24 hours. If the deceased is from another state, a notice will be sent by the medical director to the resident commissioner. If no reply is received, the hospital will perform the funeral within 24 hours.