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Scientists in Thailand reported what they say is the first confirmed instance of somebody dying from the coronavirus after catching it from a dead body.

A letter published by the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine gave details of a worker in Bangkok.

It is not yet known how long the coronavirus survives in the body after death.

The risk of catching disease from dead bodies is low, according to the WHO, but the NHS warned staff there is "likely to be a continuing risk of infection."

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Scientists in Thailand say they have identified the first case of somebody dying from the coronavirus after catching it from a dead body.

The case was reported in a letter published by the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine on Saturday. It said: "This is the first report on COVID-19 infection and death among medical personnel in a Forensic Medicine unit."

The letter was written by Won Sriwijitalai of the RVT Medical Center, Thailand, and Viroj Wiwanitkit of Hainan Medical University, China.

It appears to be the first confirmed case of a transmission between the living and the dead from any country. The authors identified the victim as a male "forensic practitioner" in Bangkok, but gave no further details.

BuzzFeed News was first to report on the paper.

© Reuters/Jorge Silva

Scientists are not yet sure how long the coronavirus survives in the body after death, and Thailand, like most other countries, is not routinely bodies of patients after they die. This makes it difficult to get a clear picture of the situation.

"At present, there is no data on the exact number of COVID-19 contaminated corpses since it is not a routine practice to examine for COVID-19 in dead bodies in Thailand," the authors wrote.

The authors said that personal protective equipment was worn by those in post-mortem work.

"Forensic professionals have to wear protective devices including a protective suit, gloves, goggles, cap and mask."

They appeared to believe the worker's death was due to his contact with dead bodies, writing that it was unlikely for people in his profession to meet live COVID-19 patients.

The letter said: "There is low chance of forensic medicine professionals coming into contact with infected patients, but they can have contact with biological samples and corpses."

However, the authors suggested that those working with dead bodies should get the use of the same disinfectant protocols as frontline doctors and nurses.

Official guidelines from the World Health Organization state that the transmission of pathogens from death bodies is very rare. "Most agents do not survive long in the human body after death," the WHO said.

© Mary Altaffer/AP

However, in the UK, Public Health England advised medical staff working for the National Health Service (NHS) that the risk is real.

"Those handling bodies should be aware that there is likely to be a continuing risk of infection from the body fluids and tissues of cases where coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) infection is identified," the UK's chief healthcare advisor body said on March 31.

Thailand's Department of Medical Services said on March 25 that it was not possible to catch the virus from a dead body, after a story spread on social media about a number of temples refusing to accept the body of a 70-year-old victim.