Standard Operating Procedure for Postmortem Inspection in a Focus on Coronavirus Disease-19: The Korean Society for Legal Medicine

Korean J Leg Med 2020;44:49-53

Department of Pathology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea,

Department of Forensic Medicine, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea, Division of Forensic Medicine, National Forensic Service Seoul Institute, Seoul, Korea,

Department of Forensic Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

E-mail: parkjp@yuhs.ac

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a respiratory syndrome caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. It resulted in a worldwide pandemic, and spread through community transmission in the Republic of Korea (ROK). In the ROK, SARS-CoV-2 is categorized as a first-degree infectious disease of the legal communicable disease present. The Korean Society for Legal Medicine (KSLM) is the sole official academic association of forensic professionals in the ROK. As such, this society has played an important role in forensic medicine and science in the ROK. Therefore, KSLM suggests a standard operating procedure for the postmortem inspection in a focus on COVID-19. This article includes the background of this suggested standard operation procedure, basic principles for postmortem inspections of individuals suggested of having an infectious disease, and specific procedures according to the probability level of SARSCoV-2 infection.

Key Words: SARS-CoV-2; Postmortem inspection, Standard operating procedure, Republic of Korea