There is a very important topic being discussed among the Muslim community. How do we bathe and shroud a person who has passed away from COVID19?
Usually it is the duty of those who are in the community to wash, bathe, shroud and pray the janazah prayer. Islam teaches us that if a person is shot or wounded under certain circumstances the bathing is wavered. There would just be the janazah prayer.
With COVID19 it depends on how much we know about how much contamination occurs after death. Cremation in Islam is totally forbidden and must be avoided at every cost. As Muslims we believe we are not allowed to be cremated. We believe the body is created from soil and dust and it needs to be returned to soil and dust. The Quran speaks about it in Surah At Taha, “we have created you from soil, we returned you to it and you will be resurrected from it once again.”
Protective clothing should be worn to the best of everyone’s ability and try to fulfil as much rights of the burial as possible.