COVID-19: Remains of covid-19 victims cannot be released — Lai Mohammed

Nigeria may not be among the hardest hit countries in the world by the highly contagious coronavirus disease, but the government is not taking chances by enforcing measures it believes would save it much trouble from the deadly virus.

One such measure is the prohibition of families whose love ones succumbed to the virus, from claiming the remains for proper burial.


This new information was disclosed by the country's Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in Abuja on Friday, per Sahara Reporters.

According to the information Minister, such bodies would be contagious and therefore must be handled by ministry of health officials.



He said, “Coronavirus is very dangerous and contagious; there is no medicine for it yet and it is not just capable of killing, overwhelming healthcare system, it will destroy the economy.

“In some countries, they are putting dead bodies in big refrigerators because the morgues have filled up.


“Nigerians should not forget that these are not the type of corpses that can be claimed for burial because it must be handled by the ministry of health.”

Six new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Osun State, Nigeria.

As at 11:00 am 3rd April there are 190 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Twenty have been discharged with two deaths pic.twitter.com/47NVeHMEux

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 3, 2020

Latest data by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), showed the country now has 190 confirmed cases of Coronavirus with two recorded deaths.