A grim watch: Funeral homes prepare for surge

While funeral home directors here aren’t sure whether to expect the surge of coronavirus victims on the same scale as witnessed in New York City, or closer to home in Chelsea and Brockton, they are preparing should there be a sudden increase in deaths from the virus. They are keeping an eye on hospital morgues as a barometer on whether to expect a higher number of decedents.

“While we expect an increase in deaths due to COVID-19 related illnesses, we expect and are hopeful that the situation will not be as severe as what our colleagues in New York are dealing with,” said Christopher W. Berg, funeral director at Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home in Wareham.

“Currently, services can still be attended by no more than 10 people, so we have not yet conducted any burials that were completely unattended. We are not holding decedents for burial or services at a later date so available space is not an issue,” he said.

Gov. Charlie Baker said the state expects the worst of the surge to arrive closer to April 20, and public health officials are working with hospitals to quickly prepare for the expected influx of patients, according to a WCVB-TV report.

Because of restrictions placed on the number of attendees at funerals during the pandemic, William Hathaway, funeral director of Hathaway Family Funeral Homes, said services have actually become more simplified and, in turn, sped up.

“Services are being held directly at the cemetery or crematorium,” he said.

He said it’s not so much that funeral homes are being inundated, but hospital morgues are filling to beyond capacity.

“They are calling us and asking us to remove decedents as quickly as possible,” Hathaway said.

He said so far the Hathaway funeral homes have been able to handle the number of decedents coming in.

Hathaway said he believes the surge hasn’t quite reached the Southcoast yet.

“When we reach the tipping point, the picture could change dramatically and we could be at a place where it is hard to keep up,” he said.

Hathaway said when a staff member recently traveled to Brockton’s Good Samaritan Hospital to pick up a body, the staff member found the hospital’s morgue to be over capacity and noticed two portable morgue trucks on the premises.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health released data showing Brockton has the second-highest infection rate of COVID-19 in the state, behind only Chelsea, according to a report by the Brockton Enterprise.

How are local funeral homes keeping up to date with the latest recommended procedures on how to go forward with services during the pandemic?

“We are sending a daily bulletin to funeral homes,” said C.R. Lyons, president of the Massachusetts Funeral Directors Association. He said member funeral homes are kept up to date on information from the Centers for Disease Control and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Lyons said funeral home staff have to take protective measures including limiting the number of attendees at funerals, meet families over the phone or online rather than in person, and wearing personal protective equipment.

“No funeral home wants to be responsible for spreading the COVID-19 virus,” Lyons said.

Lyons noted that funeral homes are currently “pretty well prepared” spacewise for decedents. He said it’s when the coronavirus victims from hospitals and field hospitals become overwhelming that funeral homes might feel the impact.

Lyons referred to the temporary morgue set up at Fitchburg State University where bodies could be held should hospital mortuaries become full. Baker also announced on April 14 that two more field hospitals are being set up at University of Massachusetts campuses in Dartmouth and Lowell.

“There could be a surge in [coronavirus] deaths in the next week or so,” Lyons said based on information coming out of FEMA. “We’ve seen that happen across the country.”

Lyons, who is also a funeral director at C.R. Lyons & Sons funeral home in Danvers, said while funerals are being handled differently during the coronavirus pandemic, he said funeral homes have become “even more dedicated to giving decedents a proper burial or cremation in a dignified manner.”