Post-mortem routine practice in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic

At the beginning of March 2020 in a small town in Apulia (Southern Italy), a funeral ceremony for a 74-year-old man hit the news headlines because many people who attended the religious ceremony were subsequently found to be infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Community transmission of the virus was attributed to the forensic pathologist who performed the routine post-mortem inspection of the man's body. The decedent died in his own home of natural causes. In the background history, the decedent reported that he was in Northern Italy during the initial outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Diagnostic testing for detection of SARS-CoV-2 was performed before his death, but the forensic pathologist did not wait for the laboratory results and authorized a public funeral service. Two days later, the decedent's relatives were informed that they had tested positive for COVID-19 infection.