Only one person needed to register a death
ELLANIE SMIT
WINDHOEK
The home affairs ministry has appealed to members of the public that only one person should come to their offices when registering a death and that they should not come in groups.
The ministry’s executive director, Etienne Maritz, says as the death toll in the country increases due to Covid-19, the queues at their offices have also increased.
Yesterday the total number of Covid-19 deaths reported in Namibia surpassed the 2 000 mark.
“We have noted that often a group of people attend to our offices to register a single death. At times we have received up to seven people registering one death. While we appreciate that moral support may be required for this type of registration, we caution that this is working against our plans to de-congest our offices during this difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Maritz.
Procedure
He said that all deaths are electronically notified by hospitals, both public and private, or police mortuaries as soon as they occur.
This is done through the Electronic Death Notification System.
According to him, after a death is notified, the family is given a note with the notification number and other relevant details.
“This notification already links the death of a person to the relevant profile in the Population Register and this shortens the registration time substantially,” Maritz explained.
He said during death registration at a Civil Registration Office, the person registering the death should present the note from the hospital or police mortuary reflecting the electronic death notification number the original ID of the deceased and a copy of such which does not have to be certified.
If the original ID of the deceased is unavailable, an original sworn statement must be presented by the person registering the death declaring that the original ID of the deceased is unavailable and the reason why it is unavailable.
The person registering the death must also present their original ID and a copy of such ID and must also know the intended place of burial at the time of death registration.
“If the documents listed above are available and the intended place of burial is known, the registration will be straightforward. Therefore, one person should be able to register the death. The remaining family members must remain at home or in the car. We respectfully advise members of the public to entrust only one person who is in possession of an original ID card to register the death,” said Maritz.
WINDHOEK
The home affairs ministry has appealed to members of the public that only one person should come to their offices when registering a death and that they should not come in groups.
The ministry’s executive director, Etienne Maritz, says as the death toll in the country increases due to Covid-19, the queues at their offices have also increased.
Yesterday the total number of Covid-19 deaths reported in Namibia surpassed the 2 000 mark.
“We have noted that often a group of people attend to our offices to register a single death. At times we have received up to seven people registering one death. While we appreciate that moral support may be required for this type of registration, we caution that this is working against our plans to de-congest our offices during this difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Maritz.
Procedure
He said that all deaths are electronically notified by hospitals, both public and private, or police mortuaries as soon as they occur.
This is done through the Electronic Death Notification System.
According to him, after a death is notified, the family is given a note with the notification number and other relevant details.
“This notification already links the death of a person to the relevant profile in the Population Register and this shortens the registration time substantially,” Maritz explained.
He said during death registration at a Civil Registration Office, the person registering the death should present the note from the hospital or police mortuary reflecting the electronic death notification number the original ID of the deceased and a copy of such which does not have to be certified.
If the original ID of the deceased is unavailable, an original sworn statement must be presented by the person registering the death declaring that the original ID of the deceased is unavailable and the reason why it is unavailable.
The person registering the death must also present their original ID and a copy of such ID and must also know the intended place of burial at the time of death registration.
“If the documents listed above are available and the intended place of burial is known, the registration will be straightforward. Therefore, one person should be able to register the death. The remaining family members must remain at home or in the car. We respectfully advise members of the public to entrust only one person who is in possession of an original ID card to register the death,” said Maritz.
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