Former health superintendent Ray Busuttil has slammed the health authorities for the “degreading’, ‘disrespectful’ way that funerals for Covid-19 victims are being held.

In a post on Facebook, accompanied by a photo, Busuttil said the “charade… is disrespectful, stigmatising and degrading for the deceased person, not to mention the pain and heartbreak it causes for an already devastated family”.

Busuttil, who preceded Charmaine Gauci as health chief, said the “protective measures being adopted are way way way beyond WHO recommendations”.

There is no need “for the coffin to be wrapped in plastic and covered with a sheet,” he said.

Busuttil served as Health Superintendent until 2013. He was replaced by Richard Zammit before Gauci took over in 2016.