From January to April this year, the reference hospitals in the cities of Maputo and Matola recorded 3,233 deaths, of which at least 950 went to the mass grave. The country’s Directorate of Morgues and Cemeteries Management Service says that several families abandon their loved ones possibly due to lack of conditions. There are people who die and are buried as destitute in the cities of Maputo and Matola. The problem is not a recent one, but this time, it went crazy and the Directorate of Municipal Service for Management of Morgues and Cemeteries considers that the outbreak of COVID-19 may have frightened families. The situation of hundreds of citizens being buried in mass graves may have worsened due to the lack of conditions for a proper funeral for family members. Of the 950 unclaimed deaths, most are from the Central Maputo and General José Macamo hospitals. In part, the General Hospital José Macamo registered 439, followed by the Central Hospital of Maputo with 298. Then came the General Hospital of Mavalane with 158, followed by the Provincial Hospital of Matola with 52 deaths. Finally, there is the General Hospital of Machava with three unclaimed deaths. The Director of Municipal Mortgage and Cemetery Management Service, Domingas Romão, explained that, generally, morgues wait 15 days before deciding to take the deaths to the mass grave. However, in cases where there is space to conserve the bodies of the failed, they wait about 45 days in the morgue before being buried in the mass grave. According to the director, before the burial, there is a process of triage of deaths to the mass grave, involving other entities, namely, the Directorate of Social Services and those responsible for the neighborhoods. Domingas Romão also clarified that the Municipal Council of Maputo is working with a funeral home to prevent more bodies from being buried in a mass grave due to the inability of family members to carry out a proper burial.

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