GRIEVING

The pandemic has brought death and disease to the entire planet, but the pain and suffering do not end with a patient’s death. The highly infectious and contagious nature of the virus means that loved ones cannot even bid farewell to those who have succumbed to Covid-19. Funeral parlors and services have had to transform how they process corpses, and funerals were not exempt from the ban on gatherings. The sheer number of fatalities has stretched such services to breaking point, with improvised morgues and cemeteries being set up to handle the pile-up of bodies. This heart-wrenching reality left thousands of people unable to properly grieve and mourn the deaths of their loved ones.

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NO CEREMONIES, NO GOODBYES

by ENRIC FONTCUBERTA

Enduring risks of infection associated with the pandemic have meant that funeral homes turned to cremating bodies rather than burying them. At a funeral home in Girona, the bodies of Covid-19 victims are moved and disinfected by staff wearing protection suits before they are kept in an isolated, cut-off room. No farewell ceremonies are allowed and many relatives do not collect the ashes.  

MASS BURIALS IN MANAUS, BRAZIL

by RAPHAEL ALVES

With more than 2,400 deaths by the end of June, Manaus is one of the worst-hit Brazilian cities by the Covid-19 disease. This death toll is likely to be undercounted as the numbers keep growing every day. To cope with the high demand the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery had to open a new section in their lot, just to handle Covid-19 victims. 

BURIAL CEREMONY BY THE BROTHERHOOD OF SAINT-ELOI

by CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

The Charitable Brotherhood was founded in 1188 during a plague epidemic. The confreres are responsible for the burial services in the Bethune cemeteries for more than 800 years without interruption, except during the French Revolution.