The huge number of fatalities due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has imposed an unprecedented pressure on existing burial facilities. Thus, mass burial is being used in different parts of the world to cope with this unusual situation. As a dead body might be contagious for at least hours, if not days, there is a need to manage/design/construct the mass burial considering the safe handling of coffins and other environmental, social, economical and ethical/dignity aspects. However, the guidelines of the World Health Organization do not thoroughly address the potential risk associated with groundwater pollution due to mass burial construction. Hence, the present study discusses the potential risk of groundwater pollution in mass burial sites and sheds light on the factors that control the survival/retention of bacteria and viruses in porous media. Furthermore, using the available knowledge on designing/monitoring of municipal/industrial waste disposal sites, a cost-effective and simple construction method of mass burial is proposed to mitigate its potential environmental impact.

中文翻译：

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为安全和有尊严地处理大流行性死亡而设计的大规模埋葬场所

由于2019年冠状病毒病大流行造成的巨大死亡人数给现有的墓葬设施带来了前所未有的压力。因此，在世界的不同地方，人们都在使用大规模埋葬来应对这种不寻常的情况。由于尸体可能会感染至少几个小时（甚至不是几天），因此需要考虑到棺材的安全处理以及其他环境，社会，经济和道德/尊严方面来管理/设计/建造大规模埋葬。但是，世界卫生组织的准则并未彻底解决由于大规模埋葬建筑而与地下水污染相关的潜在风险。因此，本研究讨论了大规模埋葬场所地下水污染的潜在风险，并揭示了控制细菌和病毒在多孔介质中存活/保留的因素。此外，利用关于市政/工业废物处置场的设计/监测的现有知识，提出了一种经济有效且简单的大规模埋葬施工方法，以减轻其潜在的环境影响。