In Covid-hit Beijing, funeral homes and crematoriums are busy

Highflyer19

Workers in protective suits transfer a body in a casket at a funeral home, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Beijing, China December 17, 2022. -REUTERS PIC

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Hearses bearing the dead lined the driveway to a designated Covid-19 crematorium in the Chinese capital on Saturday while workers at the city's dozen funeral homes were busier than normal, days after China reversed tight pandemic restrictions.

In recent days in Beijing the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has hit services from catering to parcel deliveries. Funeral homes and crematoriums across the city of 22 million are also struggling to keep up with demand as more workers and drivers testing positive for coronavirus call in sick.

China is yet to officially report any Covid deaths since Dec 7 when the country abruptly ended many key tenets of its zero-Covid policy that had been championed by President Xi Jinping, following unprecedented public protests against the protocol.

A U.S.-based research institute said this week that the country could see an explosion of cases and over a million people in China could die of Covid in 2023. A sharp surge in deaths would test authorities' efforts to move China away from endless testing, lockdowns and heavy travel restrictions, and realign with a world that has largely reopened to live with the disease.

On Saturday afternoon, a Reuters journalist saw about 30 stationary hearses stopped in the driveway leading to the Dongjiao funeral home, a COVID-designated crematoriusm in Beijing.

Parked among them were an ambulance and a wagon with a sheet-wrapped corpse in the open trunk that was later picked up by workers in hazmat suits and moved to a preparatory room to await cremation. Three of the numerous chimneys billowed smoked continuously.

A few metres away from the crematorium, in a funeral parlour, the Reuters journalist saw about 20 yellow body bags containing corpses on the floor. Reuters could not immediately establish if the deaths were due to Covid.

The parking security operator and the owner of an urn shop at the funeral home building, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the number of deaths was above average in this period and was more when compared to the period before lifting of most pandemic curbs on Dec 7.

Sick workers have also affected staffing at the roughly one dozen funeral parlours in Beijing.

"We've fewer cars and workers now," a staffer at Miyun Funeral Home told Reuters by phone, also speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that there was a mounting backlog of demand for cremation services. "We've many workers who tested positive."

It was not immediately clear if the struggle to meet the increased demand for cremation was also due to a rise in Covid-related deaths.

At Huairou Funeral Home, a body was kept for three days before it could be cremated, a staffer said.

"You can transport the body here yourself, it's been busy recently," the staffer said.

TRACKING DEATHS AND CASES

China's health authority last reported Covid deaths on Dec 3. The Chinese capital last reported a fatality on Nov. 23.

Yet respected Chinese news outlet Caixin reported on Friday that two veteran state media journalists had died after contracting Covid-19 in Beijing, among the first known deaths since China dismantled most of its zero-Covid policies.


https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2022/12/861830/covid-hit-beijing-funeral-homes-and-crematoriums-are-busy

Belibis

China dan kobid berpisah tiada..doha aman2 mendonia..ada sapa kesah pasal kobid.

Highflyer19

Negara asal virus memang sukar utk dihapuskan…mungkin akan bertambah teruk sebab sekatan telah ditarikbalik…

kayasawayn

It's been a while since your post, but I wanted to offer some insight. I just read the post about the Beijing situation, and it hit home. It’s so tough seeing how busy the funeral homes and crematoriums are. Times like these remind us how important it is to care for each other and cherish our moments. I know it's a heavy topic, but maybe focusing on things like finding meaningful Grave Markers could help families honor their loved ones in a respectful and comforting way. It’s not easy, but small gestures can make a big difference. I hope things improve soon and we can all find ways to support each other through these challenging times.