The Municipal Director of Health Services for Sunyani Municipality reported the first COVID-19 death of a Seventy-six-year-old female on 22nd of January, 2021. Two (2) burial teams of Seven members each, were put in place to organize the burial. The next day, two (2) more deaths were recorded and in the span of three weeks, eighteen deaths had been registered.

To ensure that appropriate work practice is used to prevent direct contact with infectious materials and to monitor and manage the human remains, the Environmental Health Unit requested for training of the burial team members.

The Municipal Environmental Health Analyst organized an orientation for the teams on;
1. Proper handling of Infectious bodies including COVID-19 dead bodies.
2. How to provide guidance and advice to funeral undertakers on management of infectious human remains.
3. Monitoring of premises where bodies are prepared, stored and disposed of.

The act of moving a recently deceased patient onto a trolley for transportation might be sufficient to expel small amounts of air from the lungs and thereby present minor risk.

1. To avoid this, body bags were used for transferring all bodies. Full Personal Protective equipment (PPE) were used from start to finish
2. The outer surface of the body bags were always decontaminated before physical handling.
3. Family viewing of the bodies were allowed only at the mortuary, family members were provided with masks before viewing. Nobody was allowed to kiss any such expired bodies. Standard precautions and protocols were followed to the latter.
4. Preparing and washing of the bodies were left for the Mortuary Staff to handle under the instruction and monitoring of the Environmental Health Staff.
5. All dressing were allowed but these were done at the mortuary before the bodies were placed in the body bags.
6. All used body bags were treated as health care risk waste and were disposed of as such.
7. Family members with respiratory symptoms including adults, 60years and above who are immunosuppressed were not allowed to participate in the viewing aimed at preventing the contamination of the environment for further transmission of the disease to others.

Since the coronavirus is said to be potent on the surfaces for 9 days, cleaning the immediate environments where the COVID-19 body has come in contact with was paramount. The Mortuary were cleaned and properly ventilated and illuminated at all times. Disinfectants with minimum concentration of 0.1% (1000 ppm) sodium hypochlorite (bleach) combined with 70% ethanol were used to disinfect the two hospitals.

Families were prepared and allowed to buy coffins and dig graves which greatly relieved the Municipal Assembly of financial burden.

By 31st March 2020, thirty-four deaths had been recorded ant the team has been able to burry twenty-three.