Fire and fear: Rapid cremations in the Philippines amidst COVID-19

The Philippines is among the countries worst hit by COVID-19, with 422,915 reported cases and 8,215 deaths as of November [1]. With nomass testing procedures in place, these numbers are severe underestimates. To prevent the spread, domestic regulations in the Philippines have called for expeditious cremations of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 victims within 12 hours postmortem; burial is permissible but less preferred in order to accommodate Islamic funeral laws or areas where no crematoria are present [2e6]. Moreover, many funeral homes are pushing for cremating bodies even when COVID-19 is unconfirmed or not suspected out of an abundance of caution. Following government guidelines, crematoria are rapidly processing cremations evenwhen contrary to traditions of whole-body internment in the Philippines [7]. Long-standing myths regarding the transmissibility of diseases and miasma from dead bodies prompt sanitation regulations amid infectious diseases. Save for hemorrhagic fevers and cholera, as well as improper handling of lungs and body fluids during autopsy without standard personal protective equipment (PPE), dead bodies are generally not infectious nor transmit disease. Although knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly evolving, the potential risk of virus transmission from the dead to the living is considered low, especially when cadavers are handled using standard PPE or when physical contact is minimized [8e16]. To date, there has been no documented case of viral transmission from a corpse anywhere in the world (cf. [17]). Strict protocols that enforce immediate and mandatory cremation in a country where burning the dead remains largely taboo aggravate people and disrupt the grieving process of the bereaved. By investigating how these regulations relate to historical and ethnographic contexts about managing lives and death, combined insights from forensic science and cultural anthropology can be used in recommending possibilities for honoring the dead in culturally sensitive ways even during these turbulent times.