16/02/2022
Coronavirus Act – Death certification and cremation forms after the Coronavirus Act expires.
The Coronavirus Act 2020, which introduced easements to death certification processes and cremation forms, expires at midnight on 24 March 2022.
Some changes have been retained on a permanent basis through other measures, and other processes revert to previous practice.
The following provisions are continuing after 24 March 2022:
The period before death within which a doctor completing a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) must have seen a deceased patient will remain 28 days (prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the limit was 14 days).
It will still be acceptable for medical practitioners to send MCCDs to registrars electronically.
The government’s intention is that the form Cremation 5 will not be re-introduced after the Coronavirus Act expires.
The following emergency provisions are changing with the expiry of the Act:
The provision temporarily allowing any medical practitioner to complete the MCCD, introduced as a temporary measure by the Coronavirus Act, will be discontinued.
Informants will have to register deaths in person, not remotely.
