The most active legal act is currently in force in the island for the control of communicable diseases is the Quarantine Tactile Isolation and Control of Infectious Diseases Ordinance No. 03 of 1897 (Ordinance was amended as No. 07 of 1917 No. 14, 1920 No. 14,1936 No. 13,1939 , No. 11,1941 No. 05, 1943 No. 38 and 1952 No. 12).
The Ordinance establishes legal provisions for the control of communicable diseases, notification of diseases, investigation, quarantine, hospitalization, segregation of patients, and disposal of corpses that have been confirmed to be infected with an infectious disease.
According to the above provisions and the powers vested in the Hon. Minister of Health as the authority in terms of the provisions of the Ordinance, the manner in which the final disposal of a corpse which has been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 has been legalized by the Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. 2170/8 issued on 11.04.2020.
According to Article 4 (a), the body should be cremated at a temperature of 800 to 1200 degrees Celsius for a period of 45 minutes to 1 hour at a place specified by the competent authority.
It is an existing law and can only be changed by the Minister of Health by amending the relevant section of the gazette notification through a gazette notification. It should be emphasized that if a group of people wants to change it, the clause should be changed based on expert advice.
copied from facebook page of Upul Rohana (chairman of public health inspector association)
