Direction to issue copy of cause of death certificate

Kin of the deceased can apply for it

The Director of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine, who is the Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths, has directed all birth and death registrars in the State to issue a copy of a medical certificate of cause of death to the next of kin of a deceased person, if sought by them.

In a press release, the DPH said in case of deaths for which the medical certificate of cause of death was not obtained or when families were not satisfied with the cause of death mentioned in the certificate obtained from the birth and death registrar, they could apply to the Collector and get the official document for COVID-19 death, after the application is considered by the district-level committee.

SC directive

The official referred to a Supreme Court directive to frame guidelines to simplify the process of issuing “official documents for COVID-19 deaths” to families of those who had died of coronavirus.

Following this, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had issued guidelines to the States to form district-level panels headed by the respective Collectors to look into the applications received on COVID-19 deaths and issue the official document for deaths.