The Rayerbazar graveyard – the lone Covid-19-dedicated graveyard in the capital – has been seeing an alarming influx of bodies as over 100 of them were buried in just two weeks of this month.

Throughout March, only 26 Covid-19 patients, who had succumbed to the infection, were buried there, said an official of the graveyard. 

He also said that to cope with the increased number of burials, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has recently started using an excavator to dig the graves in advance. 

The country recorded 102 Covid-19 deaths yesterday -- the highest in a single day so far since the first cases were reported on March 8 last year.    

"The DNCC excavator dug 30 graves last Sunday and another 30 on Thursday to cope with the growing number of bodies," Abdul Aziz, superintendent of the graveyard, told The Daily Star on Friday. 

He said that between April and June last year, after the pandemic hit the country, the arrival of Covid-19-infected bodies climbed as people could not take corpses outside Dhaka due to the shutdown.

The average number of bodies was less than 30 a month in the first three months this year, he added. 

Meanwhile, graveyard staffers said they have been struggling to perform the burials while maintaining health guidelines due to a lack of personal protective equipment, gloves and sanitisers. 

"We had received protective equipment last year to perform burials. But this year, we are yet to get any. We are having to do our job without maintaining health guidelines properly, ultimately risking our lives," said Shaikul Islam, who has been working in the graveyard for the last three years. 

"We are worried because there is a surge in Covid-19 infections and deaths in the country," he said, adding that at least six people are needed to carry out just one burial. 

Prof Sultana Shahana Banu, head of the virology department at Dhaka Medical College, said wearing PPEs and other protective gear is a must while burying a Covid-19-infected body. 

"Although the virus cannot spread from a corpse but risks remain since after a person's death, the body can carry the virus for several hours," she said. 

The Rayerbazar graveyard, established on about 80 acres of land in Mohammadpur area, is the largest graveyard in Dhaka, run under the DNCC. 

Contacted, Md Asaduzzaman, DNCC social welfare officer, said burials of Covid-19-infected bodies increased recently.

Some 11 such bodies were buried there on Tuesday and another 12 on Wednesday, he said. 

Five bodies were buried at the graveyard as of 3:00pm yesterday, he said, adding that the arrival of bodies usually increases after the evenings. 

So far, around 1,100 Covid-19-infected bodies have been buried at the graveyard since people started to die from the infection last year, he added.

However, Asaduzzaman said, "Some people may be burying the deceased secretly in other graveyards in the city. Besides, many are taking the bodies to their village homes in different districts."

Staffers said the graveyard's block-8 has been dedicated for the burial of Covid-19 patients and it still has enough space left. 

They added that although they charge Tk 500 for one burial, no amount is charged for the burial of Covid-19 bodies. 

Some 32 people work in two shifts at the graveyard.