Funerals

[SapphireSalute]

The reality will be deaths

Not nice to think of these things but I can’t help but wonder how the funeral services will cope when it hits its peak. There are only so many mortuary spaces

Then the funeral itself.... gatherings of people!

I am worried about elderly relatives.

I've already thought about this. If my mum dies and there's no real facilities, I'll get her cremated as soon as, and keep her at home until it's all passed, then have a service etc. later.

That’s a solution

Some religions may struggle with no ceremony but it’s needs must

At a certain point you won't have a choice and bodies will be sent directly from the hospital to the crem with no funeral.

That is what is happening in other countries.

You won't be allowed to keep the body at home due to the contagious nature of the disease.

Sorry just realised you meant keep her at home after the crem (not before!)

Yes, this is what people will have to do.

Well, it’s mass graves in Iran. I don’t know what China and Italy are doing. If there is a lockdown, there won’t be any funerals.

I wasn't considering keeping the body at home! Surely crem temperatures will kill off any disease???

LOL - that would have been funny.

Visitor: Have you got anything in the freezer?
Me: Just my mum.

I also wonder what will happen if we end up moving to direct cremations straight from the hospital for those people who have pre-paid funeral plans which include service costs/ limo and hearse fees, and coffins already paid for.... sorry I know its morbid, but I dont think there has been many situations where people have prepaid for all the extra add ons of funerals in advance and then not been able to use those services

But people are in their flats with their dead relatives in Italy. The bodies can’t be picked up for some time because of the quarantine. Have you not seen the footage?

I was thinking about this. I was a funeral celebrant until recently. We’re about 8 days for a funeral at the best of times here. They can increase operating hours of cremates a bit.

Anyway I would volunteer to do services all day, if I wasn’t working. It’s all I could do to help and not for religious ones. People will be extremely upset waiting weeks if not months for funerals and I have no health care or other essential skills.

Mass graves.
Not enough storage to accommodate infectious bodies.
Mass cremations.

No funerals, no gatherings of people.
Scaled down paperwork and simplified processing of bodies to allow multiple bodies to be put through the system quickly and efficiently.

Public health comes before anything at times like this.

Sunshinesky1981, I guess it is possible the pre-pay could be used for a memorial once things have settled enough.

They can chuck me in the pond behind my house for all I care

There won’t be funerals that mass crowds can attend, I’ve heard that live streaming is being investigated so that mourners can attend online.

No I hadn't seen that from Italy. How awful.

They are saying in Irl we may possibly go from death bed to cremation and services held later, due to the risk to the undertakers if they need to prepare the bodies for burial or viewing.

yes all the paperwork, death certificates all need to be processed without multiple visits to banks, solicitors etc

Not nice to think of these things but I can’t help but wonder how the funeral services will cope when it hits its peak. There are only so many mortuary spaces

They don't seem to be coping great now. My Grandmother died over a week ago. The earliest we could get her funeral is still over a full week away and yesterday the funeral director phoned to say that the Council might not be able to dig the grave given how busy they are... they are going to try and push it but if they can't we were told it might be mid april at the earliest by which time she will have been dead for 5 weeks.

My stepmum's mum died either just before or just after Christmas, and it was over six weeks till they had her funeral.

sorry to hear that dinosaur

Direct cremation. No reason why the ashes can't be presented to family for a memorial service much later.

I've heard the bodies are being piled high in churches in Italy as there is no where to put them. Plus gatherings are all banned so I'm guessing mass graves or straight cremation. And a memorial to be held at a later date when this is all over.
I've always said I never want a funeral anyway.

We have quite a big Muslim population in our city. We already have problems sometimes with getting death certificates issued so that burial can take place quickly. I think I read somewhere that they may allow health care professionals other than drs to sign death certificates in the event of an influx.

@TwelveIslands

Things are so grim but that made me laugh out loud, we're going to need some black humour over the next few months

They're already planning crems to be worked 24/7 and for large outdoor tent style morgues (one in Hyde Park I believe for example).

This is obvs worst case scenario but the plans are there...