MANILA - There should be no mass burial of victims of super typhoon Yolanda until after they have been identified, the Department of Health said Monday.
The dead are no longer infectious and do not have to be buried right away, said DOH Secretary Enrique Ona.
“Walang health risk dahil cadaver yon. Kapag namatay naman hindi na sila infected (A cadaver does not carry any health risk. The dead are not infectious). When you die, the bacteria also dies with you,” he said.
Around 10,000 people are feared to have died in Leyte alone when Yolanda, reported to be the strongest storm to hit the world, battered the Visayas last week.
The health secretary suggested instead that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) be allowed first to process the cadavers for proper identification.
“We were discussing with the local executives and we were suggesting that there should be an area where the cadavers should be placed pending the burial. By today, they could have already identified an area,” he added.
DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag also pointed out that the bereaved families should be given a chance to mourn their dead loved ones for closure. Otherwise, their psychological well-being would be affected.
As a policy, he said the local government units should have “collection points” where the cadavers are placed and processed by the NBI while the Philippine Information Agency tracks the relatives.
Tayag said a mass burial site with the proper measurements must also be prepared.
