Undertaker: “Relax CoV rules for funerals”
Coronavirus
Just like our everyday life, funerals have been shaped by different CoV rules for two years. This is a major challenge for relatives and undertakers. Salzburg’s undertakers are now demanding that the rules for funerals be tightened.
When a loved one dies, the families quickly have to sort out, organize and manage a lot. The constantly changing CoV measures ordinances have made this more difficult in the past two years – for the bereaved and the undertakers.
“Understanding of the relatives ends at some point”
“There have been so many changes. We have had everything from the smallest funeral services with a maximum of five people from the household, to now where we have no specifications for the maximum number of participants, but we do have an obligation to register. That’s not always easy for the relatives, because the understanding is now exhausted, “says undertaker Verena Wengler.
Undertaker: “Rethink CoV rules for funerals”
After two years of the CoV pandemic and
In the time of lockdowns and strict contact restrictions, especially at the beginning of the CoV pandemic, the undertakers have once again become consolation donors: “These two years were formative. An increase in desperation and fear was clearly noticeable. We often notice this in the funeral speeches that we prepare. When the families tell us their CVs, it becomes clear that everyone was able to live their lives normally until the start of the pandemic. That ended abruptly,” says Alexandra Reich-Dertnig, head of the Salzburg undertakers’ guild.
“Often it just needs a conversion”
What is still missing is physical contact with the relatives: “It is difficult if you are not allowed to attack the relatives. It’s a simple handshake or a retooling with human power. This physical distance is insanely difficult. Because a touch is often much more powerful than any word,” says Reich-Dertnig.
Undertakers are not allowed to dress the CoV deceased
According to the demand, the strict guidelines for burials for those who died from or with the corona virus could now be tightened up. Undertakers are currently not allowed to dress the deceased again in the hospital, in the retirement home, or in the funeral home: “But we would like to dress them. The families want that too. And above all they want to say goodbye, because that was no longer allowed,” said the guild master.
Currently 3G and registration required
At funerals, the 3G rule currently applies, the number of participants is not limited, but mourners die and register.
