Funeral firms are becoming overwhelmed in Bergamo, a province in Italy, as coffins pile up and corpses are sealed off in homes.
Funeral services are having a hard time keeping up with the coronavirus spread in Bergamo, the Italian province that has been hit hardest by the virus. Corpses of people who have died at home are being kept in sealed-off rooms for several days. Also, coffins are being lined up in churches, awaiting burial.
As of Wednesday, the coronavirus has resulted in the deaths of 2,978 people across Italy. Officials cremated and buried those victims without ceremony.
The victims who die in the hospitals are often alone. Handlers place their belongings in bags alongside their coffins in the funeral homes.
The largest funeral director in the area, CFB, says they’ve carried out almost 600 burials or cremations since March 1 alone.
“In a normal month, we would do about 120,” said the president of CFB, Antonio Ricciardi. “A generation has died in just over two weeks. We’ve never seen anything like this and it just makes you cry.”
3,993 Italians in Berganmo contracted the coronavirus by Tuesday. 1,640 of the total deaths in Italy come from that region alone.
Each of the 80 funeral companies across Bergamo are receiving dozens of calls each hour.
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Thanks to the coronavirus, hospitals have had to adopt new routines and rules when it comes to how they handle dead bodies in their care. For example, they need to place the dead body into a coffin straightaway, unclothed, so there is no health hazard.
“Families can’t see their loved ones or give them a proper funeral, this is a big problem on a psychological level,” Ricciardi said. “But also because many of our staff are ill, we don’t have as many people to transport and prepare the bodies.”
Alessandro, an Italian citizen whose 74-year-old uncle died in Codogno, shared his experience. “Usually you would be able to dress them and they would stay one night in the family home. None of this is happening. You can’t even see them to say goodbye, this is the most devastating part.”
Stella, a teacher in Bergamo, also shared a story. Not even the cheapest phone plans have been able to help families stay connected during this time.
“Yesterday, an 88-year-old man died. He’d had a fever for a few days. There was no way to call an ambulance because the line was always busy. He died alone in his room. The ambulance arrived an hour later.”
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“Obviously nothing could be done, and since no coffins were available in Bergamo, they left him on the bed and sealed his room to keep his relatives from entering until a coffin could be found.”
The director of Lia, Peitro Bonaldi, warned that his business association has reached capacity. “We have asked for support from funeral companies nationally as deaths have risen exponentially. And unfortunately, in recent days a lot of funeral workers have become sick with the virus and so can’t work.”
There have also been issues with funeral companies refusing to take bodies, like in the case of Teresa Franzese, 47. Her body was kept at home for almost two days before officials collected it.
