Funeral workers demand PPE

KATHMANDU: Meanwhile, funeral workers of Pashupati Aryaghat have asked the government to provide them regular personnel protective equipment to cremate bodies considering the high risk of contracting coronavirus while cremating bodies.

“Due to lack of personal protective equipment, we have to cremate with the fear that they might get infected,” funeral worker Laxman KC said. He added that the government had so far provided them with one gown which was not safe at all. Thapa Magar, head of electric crematorium, also said that there was lack of protective gear for funeral workers. “If the government does not ensure our safety on time, the situation might arrive when the government will have to think of burying bodies,” said Gokarna Poudel, head of Pashupati Ghat Management Committee.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 09, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.