Proper death certification in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: Forensic perspective.

It is well known that the quality of death certificates determines the accuracy of public health mortality data. In the light of a pandemic, forensic pathologists must understand the true definition of a COVID-19 death and the requirements for filling out the death certificate, as these are critical for maintaining accurate and trustworthy mortality data. To determine the scope and evolution of the COVID-19 epidemic, accurate death certification is critical. We believe that COVID-19 should be enlisted under part II or section "note" (if it exists in DC form in a particular country) of the DC in all suicide instances and putrefied bodies with positive autopsy swabs for SARS-CoV-2. In addition to our suggestions for the completion of the DC in some COVID-19 instances, we feel that forensic pathologists should follow the WHO criteria for proper DC completion in COVID-19 cases. Better physician education at this stage of the pandemic would increase adherence to existing (WHO and CDC) standards. As a result, forensic pathologists with competence in death certification could help by teaching treating physicians in this area.

Case Report: Post-mortem Histopathological and Molecular Analyses of the Very First Documented COVID-19-Related Death in Europe.

In Europe, the first case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the first COVID-19-related death were reported in France on January 24th and February 15th, 2020, respectively. Officially, the first case of COVID-19 infection in the Republic of Serbia was registered on March 6th. Herein, we presented the first case of retrospective detection of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the post-mortem-obtained vitreous humor (VH), which took place on February 5th, 2020. This is the first death in Europe proven to be caused by COVID-19 by means of post-mortem histopathological and molecular analyses. Based on this finding, it appears that SARS-CoV-2 has been spreading faster and started spreading much earlier than it had been considered and that COVID-19 was probably the cause of the much-reported pneumonia of unknown origin in January and February 2020.

Is the role of forensic medicine in the covid-19 pandemic underestimated?

We believe that forensic medicine should play a significant role in the COVID-19 pandemic. Forensic pathologists should ask and answer various questions through autopsy cases during the COVID-19 period, thus providing a significant contribution to science. Some of the potential roles of forensic medicine in this issue include: determining the exact cause of death among the deceased who were SARS-CoV-2 positive, contribution to the accuracy of mortality statistics, understanding pathological mechanisms of COVID-19, tracking the presence of the virus over time, survival of the virus after death as well as dealing with medicolegal issues. A detailed multidisciplinary analysis of autopsy samples would undoubtedly help understand this new illness and its clinical management. Therefore, autopsies during the COVID-19 pandemic should not be an exception, but certainly a rule.