Reporting COVID-19 related deaths

When a person registered with a practice dies, there are processes practices put in place to report the death to all those involved in the family's care to prevent unnecessary appointment reminders being sent to whānau, and ensure allied health, hospice, specialists etc involved are informed.

When a person dies within 28 days of having a diagnosis of COVID-19, it is important to inform the local Medical Officer of Health (a template for this can be found below). If someone is getting external support from manaaki services or a COVID-19 hub when they die, it is important to include them in the list of people you contact. 

The definition of COVID-19 related death is included in the Incident Management Team SOP 302 document (found below).

Note the loading of the detail into EpiSurv negates the need for an email to be sent to the Ministry of Health incident management team.

The Ministry of Health is constantly gathering information about COVID-19, including whether a person who has or recently had COVID-19 has died.

Please inform your local “COVID-19 hub” of:

1. a person who has died within 28 days of being a COVID-19 case - independent of cause of death
2. a person for whom COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death (irrespective of when the death occurred)
3. a person for whom COVID-19 contributed to their death (irrespective of when the death occurred).

The Waikato COVID-19 hub asks practices to use a form (found below), which has been updated from previous versions with a new title. Please replace any past versions you have in your practice.

In other areas please inform your local hub through the usual communication channels you use.