How Cremation Can Help The Living Stay Safe

Dealing with a COVID-related death in the family is bad enough, and the last thing you need is to worry about transmission of the virus during a funeral. Unfortunately, funerals have been the sites of superspreader events, with one funeral in Georgia alone leading to 100 new cases of the virus. While most funeral homes have adapted to videoconferencing and limiting people at physical services, the risk still remains for the attendees and funeral home staff. By opting for cremation, you can reduce the risk of viral spread substantially.

Services Don't Have to Have a Central Location

With cremation, you don't have to have any services at a central location. The body can go straight to the crematorium, with the ashes going straight to you. You don't need any staff other than the ones at the crematorium, meaning you don't need a religious figure there (unless you want someone to be there). With even a basic funeral, you might still have people show up at the gravesite because they want to pay respects as the person is buried.

No Pallbearers Needed

Because cremation isn't a very public process, you don't need pallbearers to transport the body from a chapel to a gravesite. The staff at the crematorium handles all body transportation; you don't have to do anything. That may sound cold, but remember, society is still dealing with a virus that isn't that well known and that does seem to spread more easily in groups of people in enclosed areas. The more people you can get to stay away from the crematorium, the better, at least for the time being.

No Embalming Required

Cremation does not require embalming at all, which is good given that embalmers face a high risk of transmission of the virus due to their handling of bodily fluids. The blood, and its disposal, can potentially spread the virus (you'll find different advice regarding this, with some agencies noting the potential for transmission and others saying there appears to be no risk). It's better in this case not to take a chance on spreading more of the virus, so choosing cremation is safer for now.

Contact funeral homes and crematoriums to find out what they're doing to protect staff and mourners from viral spread. Cremation is an affordable alternative to burial and offers much more flexibility in terms of reducing the number of people that need to be in the same place.

Contact a local cremation service for more information.

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