Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on whether funeral directors have a heightened risk of contracting covid-19 from the bodies of deceased covid-19 patients.
Public Health England has published guidance for the care of the deceased with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 which includes guidance for funeral directors. This suggests that those handling bodies should be aware that there is likely to be a continuing risk of infection from body fluids and tissues where infection is suspected or confirmed. While the risk of infectious transmission is lower than for living patients, action should be taken to mitigate that risk. The guidance is available at the following link: