MBABANE CLINIC RUNS OUT OF BODY BAGS

MBABANE – From mortuaries being full to the looming  shortage of coffins and casket, the country is now faced with a shortage of body bags.

Following the many deaths related to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Mbabane Clinic has run out of body bags.

This was disclosed by The Clinic Group as they attributed this shortage to the recent high mortality rate in the country.

In an interview, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Medical Director at Mbabane Clinic, Dr Mark Mills, said there was indeed a shortage of the body bags.

A body bag, also known as a cadaver pouch or human remains pouch (HRP), is a non-porous bag designed to contain a human body used for the storage and transportation of shrouded corpses. They can also be used for the storage of corpses within morgues at funeral parlours or at hospital morgues.

“The whole country is experiencing a shortage of body bags as is our neighbour, South Africa. Most of the body bags are supplied from South Africa,” Mills said.

 He mentioned that the ideal body bags for COVID-19 were transparent so that there was no need for the bags to be opened unnecessarily for identification purposes. He further stated that the transparent bags were almost impossible to obtain as they were imported from South Africa. 

“Normally, for non-COVID-19 patients, we do not use body bags as the funeral parlours collect, but due to the risk of infection, body bags are mandatory for people who died of COVID-19- related illnesses,” he stated. 

Mills mentioned that the local funeral parlours had assisted the Clinic Group with body bags as they had obtained some from local suppliers.

“However, our understanding is these are mostly sourced from South Africa. We have been unable to find a South African supplier who can provide bags due to the high demand there,” he said.

Echoed

His words were echoed by Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula, who said there seemed to also be a shortage nationally. He further mentioned that although the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital still had them in stock, they would eventually run out within a short period of time. 

Eswatini Nazarene Health Institutions (ENHI) CEO Dr Mbuso Sihlongonyane said the RFM Hospital still had the body bags although he did not know the exact number. He said the hospital had procured some during the first wave of COVID-19.

“At this moment, the hospital still has the body bags in stock as we bought them during the first wave of the coronavirus from South Africa,” he said.

Meanwhile, when asked on how the current situation at their hospitals in terms of influx of patients was, Dr Mills disclosed that although the influx had been extremely high, over the last two days, it was much better. 

He, however, mentioned that the hospitals were currently full of very ill patients. He said The Clinic Group had also postponed elective surgery or procedures to open up beds for COVID-19 patients.

This, he said, was due to the high number of critically ill patients with COVID-19 and bed constraints.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most recently there have been many deaths which have been related to this pandemic and this has seen the health facilities and funeral parlours experiencing a shortage in coffins and caskets.

Worth noting is that the undertakers source their coffins and caskets from neighbouring South Africa and they are said to be currently low on stock.

The undertakers stated that as much as they had a stock pile of coffins, their supply was running low and there was an impending challenge from their suppliers.

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