Bereavement industry adjusts to virus worries
Smaller gatherings, online visitation reducing risk to those paying respects
After Mas Takahashi died peacefully on Feb. 14, family members did not immediately hold a funeral service.
Instead they chose a “celebration of life” for a life worth celebrating: from his B.C. family’s internment in Alberta during the Second World War to a 23-year Royal Canadian Air Force career to another as a judo instructor and Olympic-level official, capped by an award from the Emperor of Japan in 2002.
Expected to attract a large number of people, Mas Takahashi’s celebration of life was scheduled for the Takahashi Dojo in Hintonburg on April 5, or at least it was until COVID -19 erupted and government and health agencies reacted by restricting the size of scheduled gatherings to 50. Now April 5 is when the Takahashis hope to hold the event.
“We have to wait and see how things play out, I guess,” daughter Tina Takahashi says. “It’s hard.”
Similar impacts are being felt across Ottawa as funeral companies juggle attendance limits and issues of cleanliness and public health with understandable stresses felt by families and friends of the deceased.
“It’s not easy when you lose a loved one under normal circumstances, and this … You can’t even have friends and families come and offer their condolences. It makes it even harder,” says Laurie Cole, owner of Cole Funeral Services and daughter of John Cole, owner of Pinecrest Cemetery. “But, however, there’s a safety risk. Right? And older people, as well, are at high risk. So we’re making the choice. Even the families are calling and saying, ‘We’re cancelling, or we’re going to postpone it, if it’s an urn, or we’re going to just do it at the graveside.’”
While some details vary between companies, there are common threads in what Cole and other funeral homes say about services and preparations for them.
Lots of hand-sanitizer stations in buildings.
Meetings to make funeral arrangements will be limited to two or three family members and moved into larger than usual rooms to allow for social distancing, if they’re in-person at all; teleconferences and other forms of communication such as Skype and FaceTime may be substituted.
For services with more than 50 mourners, alternatives include multiple sessions, video recording or online streaming.
Graveside services are also limited, to 10 or less.
“They’re all well-educated because they’re also listening to all the important news that’s out there — they’re basically already aware of the things that they have to be mindful of,” says Bruno Carchidi, Tubman Funeral Homes president and funeral director.
“And they’re doing what they can to keep the service more private, to immediate family and very close friends. They’re acknowledging that that’s an important thing. They realize, I guess, the value that they need to also respect the guidelines that are being provided.”
The Bereavement Authority of Ontario, a not-for-profit industry regulator, says there is “no known evidence” of post-mortem spread of novel coronavirus. “There is also no known risk associated with being in the same room with the body of someone who has died of COVID-19,” adds an email statement. “Nonetheless, the BAO continues to remind funeral professionals to follow their precautions and wear appropriate (personal protective equipment).”
Patrick McGarry, chief operating officer for Hulse, Playfair & McGarry Inc., says the funeral services profession has benefited from lessons from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 and the early days of HIV/AIDS.
“I think we’re able to ramp up a lot quicker with some of the heightened things on the public side that we could be doing or should be doing. For instance, hand sanitizers are already in our buildings all the time just because of more awareness. That wasn’t around, I don’t think, pre-SARS,” McGarry says.
“There was a time back in SARS days when we were struggling to be able to get in touch with authorities that would be able to provide information. Today there’s instantaneous information.”
Something that isn’t an issue yet, but might become one if coronavirus-related limitations persist, is storage of remains, particularly for those remains bound for eventual casket burials.
“We’re continuing with casket burials, absolutely,” says Andy Roy, Beechwood Cemetery’s chief executive officer.
“You’ve probably heard in the city how there has been storage issues with remains at hospitals and what not, and, if we didn’t continue with casket burials, then we’d have a huge problem with storing remains to bury at a later date. Cremated remains are much easier to store.”
Scheduling may also be a longer-term factor. As with the Takahashis, many families are postponing funeral services and celebrations of life until they no longer have to limit the number of mourners.
“They’re saying, ‘We’ll have a service when things calm down,’ and at that time we’ll have to revisit the families and schedule the funerals for them,” Carchidi says. “If it lasted a very long time, we’d have to be very mindful of being able to accommodate all the families because they’re all going to want to have a proper celebration or service for their family members.” gholder@postmedia.com