Recently, cases of COVID-19 have been resurging across the world, signaling the second wave. On December 4th, there were 12,161 deaths worldwide. This raises a question: does the necessity to follow social distancing outweigh the patient’s right not to die alone and the family’s right to be with their dying relative?

For terminal patients in Intensive Care Units, patients would ordinarily be allowed to spend their last hours with their friends and family. In the normal wards, family members would be given abundant space to converse with doctors and nurses while staying with the patient. When the passing had happened, the corpse would be brought to the hospital church, where the deceased would be dressed and rested for 24 hours while visitors could gather and mourn.

However, during the COVID pandemic, a no-visitor policy was authorized by governmental and hospital officials for both COVID and non?COVID patients. Most of the COVID patients were elderly, and they needed to remain in an isolation room without access to human contact during their last hours. Unlike patients dying of other diseases, patients with COVID-19 sometimes had vivid consciousness until their very last moment. Furthermore, even relatives and family members were left on their own due to lockdown. Following the death of a patient, the corpse was undressed, soaked with disinfectant, and cremated. This made it impossible for families to see the deceased nor their belongings.

https://www.livescience.com/covid-19-corpses-contagious.html

The situation poses an ethical dilemma, for such a policy seemingly disregards a patient's rights. But at the same time, there is statistical evidence indicating the high risk of visitors acquiring COVID and spreading it to others in and outside of hospitals, which entails precaution and safety measures of families.

Fortunately, some hospitals have been allowing limited contact between patients and visitors. Officials should continue to devise a safe, nuanced policy, with at least a small number of families visiting patients during their final moment.

This is a resonating quote from Rodrigo Marquez: A final exit without goodbyes, attended by strangers dressed as extraterrestrials, machines beeping heartlessly, surrounded by others in similar situations, but far from our people. Indeed, COVID-19 is a fear for all of us, but our worst fear would be to die alone.

안다인 강남포스트 학생기자  webmaster@ignnews.kr

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