Nottingham funeral directors taking Covid swabs from deceased

Funeral directors are taking swabs from the deceased to test for coronavirus as part of a government pilot scheme.

Three businesses, including one from Nottingham and one from the West Midlands, are involved in the pilot, designed to assess Covid-19 deaths in the community.

Strict protocols mean permission must be sought from families to test deceased relatives who are eligible.

Public Health England said the scheme will be "evaluated in due course".

A.W. Lymn, which has sites in Nottingham, Mansfield Woodhouse and Derby, is one of the three businesses involved.

Jackie Lymn Rose, the firm's director, said: "The swabbing of the deceased is a straightforward way of gathering more information about the virus in the community."

Swabs are taken from the nose and throat area and only those that have died in a non-hospital setting are eligible.

Swabs must be taken within five days of the person's death and cannot be taken from a person whose death has been referred to the coroner.

Miss Lymn Rose said: "Families are advised they can withdraw permission from the trial at any stage."

So far, she added, some families had agreed to take part in the trial but others had declined.

"If they are in agreement, a consent form is completed and the swab is taken. The swab is then sent to Public Health England (PHE)," she said.

She believed the trial - which began in January, although the duration is currently unknown - may prove "crucial" in gathering information about the virus.

"We hope that by supporting the pilot scheme to detect the presence of the virus in the deceased, we are contributing to the national effort of protecting the vulnerable," she said.

The two other funeral directors involved are Heart of England Co-operative, which operates across the Midlands, and Ian Hazel Funerals in Sutton Coldfield.

The firms have been granted a licence by the Human Tissue Authority to partake in the study.

The authority said: "The law requires there must be the right permission in place and that funeral director premises are licensed by us to allow samples from the deceased to be obtained for this public health work."

Dr Gavin Dabrera, a consultant in public health medicine for Public Health England, said: "We are working with funeral directors on a pilot surveillance programme to identify people who died with Covid-19 not identified through other routes.

"All of this work is done with the consent of family members of the deceased and this pilot programme will be evaluated in due course."

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