Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing body bags with a transparent face window which allow families to pay respects to a deceased person while maintaining effective infection control.

No such assessment has been made.

The care of the deceased guidance has been developed to ensure that the deceased are treated with sensitivity, dignity and respect and to ensure that people who need to come into contact with the deceased or who work in services providing care of the deceased are protected from infection. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-care-of-the-deceased/guidance-for-care-of-the-deceased-with-suspected-or-confirmed-coronavirus-covid-19#who-this-guidance-is-for