Italy and the United States are two of the countries most affected by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), with more than 240,760 confirmed cases in Italy and 2,699,658 in the United States (as of July 2, 2020). The current COVID-19 pandemic has led to substantial changes in many fields of medicine, specifically in the forensic discipline. Medicolegal activities related to conducting autopsies have been largely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Postmortem examinations are generally discouraged by government regulations due to the risk of spreading the disease further through the handling and dissection of bodies from patients who succumbed to COVID-19 infection. There is a paucity of data regarding the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in bodies, as well as concerning the reliability of swabbing methods in human remains. On the other hand, the autopsy is an essential tool to provide necessary information about the pathophysiology of the disease that presents useful clinical and epidemiological insights. On this basis, we aim to address issues concerning general medical examiner/coroner organization, comparing the Italian and American systems. We also discuss the pivotal roles of forensic pathologists in informing infectious disease surveillance. Finally, we focus on the impact of COVID-19 emergency on medicolegal practices in Italy and the United States, as well as the responses of the forensic scientific community to the emerging concerns related to the pandemic. We believe that stronger efforts by authorities are necessary to facilitate completing postmortem examinations, as data derived from such assessments are expected to be paramount to improving patient management and disease prevention.

截至2020年7月2日，意大利和美国是受SARS-CoV-2（COVID-19）影响最大的两个国家，意大利的确诊病例超过240,760例，美国的确诊病例超过2,699,658例。当前的COVID-19大流行已导致许多医学领域的实质性变化，尤其是在法医领域。与进行尸检有关的法医学活动在很大程度上受到COVID-19大流行的影响。政府法规通常不鼓励进行死后检查，因为有可能通过处理和解剖死于COVID-19感染患者的尸体进一步传播疾病。关于SARS-CoV-2在人体中的持久性以及在人类遗体中抹拭方法的可靠性的数据很少。另一方面，尸检是提供有关疾病病理生理学必要信息的重要工具，可提供有用的临床和流行病学见解。在此基础上，我们旨在比较意大利和美国的制度，以解决有关一般体检医师/验尸官组织的问题。我们还将讨论法医病理学家在通知传染病监测中的关键作用。最后，我们关注COVID-19紧急情况对意大利和美国的法医学实践的影响，以及法医学界对与大流行有关的新问题的反应。我们认为，当局有必要加大力度，以方便完成尸检，