On Monday, local residents had protested the cremating of the body in Ambattur fearing the virus may spread, but officials said this was an unfounded belief

The body of the doctor who had tested positive for COVID-19, after he died on Monday, was cremated in the city during the early hours on Tuesday.

A team of health and police officials moved the body from the hospital’s mortuary in Vanagaram to a crematorium in the city after getting the consent of the family and hospital authorities, police sources said.

After local residents had protested against cremating the body of the orthopaedic at the Chennai Corporation Crematorium in Ambattur on Monday fearing that the virus would spread, health workers had moved the body back to the hospital’s mortuary.

The doctor, a native of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, was brought to Chennai for treatment last week after he tested positive for COVID-19. He contracted the virus while treating some patients, the sources said.

Senior police and health workers had a discussion on Monday evening and took a decision that the body be cremated before dawn on Tuesday.

“Some people suspect that cremating a COVID-19 infected body will spread the virus in the locality. This is contrary to truth. We took all precautionary steps and followed the guidelines to cremate the body,” a senior police official said.