A LOCAL funeral director says their services have been quiet ever since the government implemented its restrictions on funeral attendance last month.
Under the new guidelines, only 10 people, including staff members, are permitted to be present at funeral services, forcing many funeral providers to find alternative ways to accommodate clients and their families.
Riverland Funerals manager and funeral director Sharyn Moll said staff at the organisation have had to be pared down, and digital forms of broadcasting considered for family unable to attend services.
“We used to always have three staff at a service,” Ms Moll said.
“Now we try to have those staff outside or in another room, and only the celebrant in the room at the time, to allow the maximum number of family members present.
“We’re also doing live streaming and we can also record services, as sometimes people don’t want them live streamed, but they want it recorded as a video, and we can send the family DVDs with a video of the service.”
Ms Moll said in some cases, clients had also opted to separate the service in two, or opt for a direct cremation to bypass the struggle of organising a ceremony amid the crisis.
“Because it says 10 people in the chapel, 10 people at the cemetery, there have been cases where some family have attended one half of the service at the chapel, and different family members have attended the cemetery,” she said.
“That allows more people to be involved in at least part of the service.
“Some families are opting for a direct cremation, which has no service prior to the cremation, then asking us to hold the ashes until restrictions are lifted, and then they want to have a memorial service when more people are able to attend.
“It leaves things just a little bit longer in limbo, but it’s the way some people have opted to go about it.”
While Ms Moll understands the restrictions are necessary, she said it has made it difficult for some families to grieve.
“Particularly for those who have very large families, it’s really quite difficult for them because obviously the family have to determine who those people are that can come,” she said.
“We have had instances where we’ve had extra viewings and that’s so they could be separated, and one group had to completely leave the premises before another group of family could come in for a viewing.
“There are also instances where families are interstate and there is just no way they can come as, because of the two-week isolation, it could take four weeks out of someone’s life, plus whatever time they spent here at the funeral, making it impossible for some families to attend.”
In addition, Ms Moll said funeral staff had to abide by social distancing measures themselves and could not comfort families as they normally would.
“You feel as though there’s a standoff between you and families when normally, you’d be interacting with them,” she said.
“Arranging and organising the funerals just have some extra layers of complexity when we’re trying to work with the restrictions we have now.”