On February 24, 2020, Switzerland recorded the first infection with Sars-CoV-2 and, on March 5, the first death from Covid-19. In one year, seniors have paid the heaviest price: care, nursing homes, hospitals, isolation, death, mourning … What has Switzerland done for its elders? Have they been well protected, cared for, respected? In sickness as in death? In this series of articles, Heidi‧news tries to provide answers and looks back on a year full of emotions.
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In one year, 9,240 people with Covid-19 died in Switzerland. Each death has its number and statistics, a +1 in the newspapers the next day. And then… curtain. But wrong with those who think that the path ends there. From hospital bed to burial or crematorium, a whole series of stages mark the end of life. What happens to the bodies of people who die from Covid-19?
Who do we talk to? Dr Johannes Alexander Lobrinus, Assistant Physician Head of Unit in the Clinical Pathology Service of HUG, is responsible for adult autopsies and the mortuary through which natural deaths pass. He tells us about the journey of the bodies of Covid-19 patients whose death occurred in hospital and the work done in the morgue over the past year.
Heidi.news – Once the Covid-19 patient dies on his hospital bed, what is his journey until he leaves HUG?
Johannes Alexander Lobrinus – In the most frequent case, there is no autopsy. The patient dies in a care unit, in intermediate care or in intensive care, and is transported to the hospital morgue located in the CMU building. This mortuary is part of the Clinical Pathology Service and accommodates patients who have died of natural causes, including Covid-19. On the other hand, people who die of unnatural death or of undetermined cause are taken care of by forensic medicine.
On arrival at the morgue, the body is placed in a large white zippered cover. At the time of the first wave, there was a long debate between the doctors of the HUG, the cantonal doctor’s service and the funeral directors on the necessity of the cover. From a medico-scientific point of view, we believe that this measure is not absolutely necessary, but the funeral directors still insist on it today for questions of safety and handling.
Read also: Report in the footsteps of the one who fought to embalm the dead of Covid-19
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