ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Division said on Sunday it was discouraging the air transportation of any COVID-19 infected bodies of citizens from abroad to prevent the spread of the virus, but stopped short of a complete ban on the movement of corpses by air.
Earlier this month, the WHO issued guidelines on the handling and burial of people who died after becoming infected with the coronavirus. These guidelines included keeping the movement and handling of the body to a minimum.
“We are strongly discouraging transportation of coronavirus-infected bodies from abroad,” Abdul Sattar Khokhar, a senior joint secretary at the Aviation Division told Arab News on Sunday.
“This is dangerous, and we can’t afford any risk at this critical time,” he said, and added that his ministry had received some requests for the transer of bodies from families whose loved ones had died in France in recent months. No final decision had been made on the subject yet, he said.
“We have issued special instructions to flight crew to handle and transport COVID-19 infected bodies, but so far no such body is brought back,” he said.
He added however, that in case of any “extreme emergency, or a special case,” the government could allow the repatriation of dead bodies.
No official figures have been released about the number of Pakistanis who have died after contracting the virus abroad, but Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his condolences on Friday at the death of “countless” Pakistani nationals who he said had died outside the country.
“Many died while serving in the frontline of the global war against COVID-19. My condolences and prayers go to their families,” Khan said in a Twitter post on Friday. “We can never forget all of you far away from Pak who continue to do us proud and are our greatest asset, playing a critical role in Pak’s development through remittances & charity work.”
Around 8.8 million Pakistanis live abroad, a majority of them in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Since the global pandemic first hit Pakistan in February, tens of thousands of Pakistani expats out of work are stranded in different countries, with the government running special flight operations to bring them back.
The Ministry of National Health Services has separately issued a detailed guideline to district administrations on the handling and burial of people infected with COVID-19, keeping in line with WHO protocols.
“Family and friends are allowed to view the body, but they should avoid touching or kissing it,” Sajid Hussain Shah, spokesperson for Ministry of National Health Services, told Arab News.
It is unclear if any COVID-19 positive bodies in the world have been transported via airplane to date, though transmission of the virus through mishandling corpses has been reported in various countries.
