Perspectives on the death investigation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ye Xue; Liying Lai; Chao Liu; Yong Niu; Jian Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.fsisyn.2020.04.001

Perspectives on the death investigation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Forensic Sci Int Synerg. 2020 Apr 9:2:126-128. doi: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2020.04.001. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Ye Xue¹, Liying Lai², Chao Liu¹, Yong Niu³, Jian Zhao¹

Affiliations

¹ Guangzhou Forensic Science Institute & Key Laboratory of Forensic Pathology, Ministry of Public Security, Baiyun Avenue 1708, Baiyun District, 510442, Guangzhou, PR China.
² Guangzhou 12th People's Hospital, Tianqiang Road 1, Tianhe District, 510620, Guangzhou, PR China.
³ Criminal Investigation Department, Ministry of Public Security, Changan Street East 14, Dongcheng District, 100741, Beijing, PR China.

Abstract

The pandemic of COVID-19 caused by 2019-nCoV outbreaks in most of the countries, has subsequently spread rapidly and become a pandemic worldwide. Due to the strong infectivity of COVID-19 and lack of experience of performing an autopsy in infectious disease-induced death, the pandemic created some challenges for forensic practitioners. In this article, we summarize the experience of how we handle the confirmed or suspected infectious cases and give some perspectives for the future.

Keywords: COVID-19; Death investigation; Forensic science.

Publication types

Editorial