Funeral parlours under heavy strain with rising Covid deaths
“It is not the bodies that place our staff members at risk of contracting the virus, but the deceased's family members who come in to arrange funerals while also being positive and not being aware of it at the time.”
Local funeral services are under great strain due to deaths because of the third Covid-19 wave.
“We attended to 32 bodies this past weekend alone,” said Sonja Smith, managing director of Sonja Smith Elite Funeral Group.
She signed no less than 231 death certificates in June.
“I estimate that the number of deaths increased by about 60% in the past five weeks, and is increasing around 20% daily.”
Smith, who has just recovered from Covid-19 herself, said 11 staff members had been in isolation at once, recently. At the moment, two staff members were in isolation and two in quarantine.
“Last week, five staff members had to work right through Wednesday night.
“It is not the bodies that place our staff members at risk of contracting the virus, but the deceased’s family members who come in to arrange funerals, while also being positive and not being aware of it at the time, or are awaiting test results.
“We try to work electronically and by telephone as much as possible,” she said.
With 10 branches in Centurion, Midstream, Pretoria, Johannesburg, East- and West Rand, Smith said they face operational challenges as well such as not having enough vehicles available for the demand.
“There is also major congestion at doctors’ practices who don’t have enough time to sign death certificates. I’m aware of a doctor in Montana who sat and signed death certificates for four and a half hours on Friday afternoon.
“We cannot bury bodies without death certificates,” Smith said.
She said there is “also major congestion at crematoriums”.
Smith said what also adds to the congestion, is that there is sometimes no-one available to make funeral arrangements due to family members being in isolation or in quarantine themselves.
Eddie Olivier, general manager of Grobbelaars Funeral Services in Riviera, echoed Smith’s sentiments.
He said they might have “to look at increasing our storage facilities to keep bodies until they can be buried or cremated”.
“Sometimes an entire family has the virus and all members had been admitted to hospitals. Then there is no-one to arrange the funeral. Then we have to store the body and wait until arrangements can be made.
“We are much busier during this third wave than during the first and second waves,” Olivier said.
He said staff members are under pressure and work longer hours since assistance with bodies is also needed during the night sometimes.
“Our figures rose with about 60% in comparison with the first and second wave, and we attend on average to five or six cases per day.”
Both Smith and Olivier said deaths didn’t pertain to elderly people only anymore, but people of all ages are being affected.
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