Authorities are trying to ensure a surge in deaths doesn't lead to unplanned mass burials that could contaminate water supplies
From building cemeteries away from human settlements to erecting fences around graves, South Africa is drawing up plans to protect the country's water supply from contamination if mass coronavirus burials become a necessity.
With researchers noting that little is known about how long the novel coronavirus survives in water, South Africa wants to avoid sudden, poorly planned burials that could result in the virus or other pathogens passing into water supplies.
"If we choose burial sites that have potential to impact the environment, with no mitigation plans, there is high risk for groundwater contamination," Dass told the Thomson Reuters Foundation over the phone from Durban.
While finding enough physical space for a mass burial site is a priority, the depths and locations of graves and how bodies are buried are all critical to ensuring that water sources do not get contaminated, according to SACA.
"Given the high infectivity of coronavirus, it would be best to select sites for the mass burial of COVID-19 victims far from any human settlement," Abia said.
