In a bid to curtail the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the state, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has signed an executive order prescribing N10m fine for any burial conducted contrary to the provisions of the order.
The published Order, RVSG – 122020, issued new guidelines for conducting burials during the COVID-19 pandemic. Section 3 stipulated that any person intending to hold a public burial in the state or take any corpse outside the state for burial must apply to the governor for approval through the Commissioner for Health.
With effect from June 5, the order said an application for such burial of any person that died from February 1, 2020, must be accompanied by a death certificate showing whether or not the death was related to COVID-19.
Section 4 of the order said: “The applicant shall pay a penalty of N10,000,000 to the government of Rivers State for any breach of the conditions, guidelines or protocols specified in the approval and set out herein”.
In it states that one who died of coronavirus must hold between 9 am to 12noon, not exceeding three hours with not more than 50 persons in attendance, family-inclusive.
The order also says that every person attending the burial must maintain social distancing of not more than two metres and all surfaces and enclosures must be decontaminated after the burial concludes.
Reported by: Fatimah Oyesanmi
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