A boy sits on a grave at Konyo Konyo burial ground in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Nov. 5, 2017 | Gale Julius/Xinhua

All people who die of coronavirus will be buried by trained healthcare workers but not family members, the High-Level Taskforce on Covid-19 pandemic has announced.

This directive comes after the country registered its first coronavirus death on Thursday.

In its communique, the taskforce said remains of victims of COVID-19 shall not be transported to their ancestral home for burial.

“The burial in this situation is conducted according to strict protocol and guidelines by specially trained healthcare workers,” said Dr. Makur Koriom, undersecretary at the Ministry of Health.

This is to protect their families and loved ones from Covid-19 exposure.

“…victims of COVID19 will not be transported to their home villages or ancestral towns for burial because of the risk of exposing relative and love and also the community to infection,” Dr Makur added.

South Sudan now has a total of 231 cases with 3 recoveries and one death.