COVID-19 has forced them to be more careful and to reduce the number of people attending the funeral of a loved one

Hugo Sánchez, owner of a funeral home in South Los Angeles, says he feels prepared to face the coronavirus situation since his job title includes transporting the deceased in his last resting place.

At noon on Thursday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 1,216 COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths.

Sánchez, who owns the Optima Funeral Home, indicated that regardless of whether the person died of coronavirus or not, the fact of having been in the hospital makes them more vulnerable and therefore the service must be extremely careful when transporting.

As directed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is required to keep a person who died from COVID-19 isolated and the body must be placed in a double bag for protection.

"The CDC says that the bacteria stays there but since the person is no longer breathing it is less contagious," Sánchez explained.

"A patient who breathes (or coughs) in the room is moving the virus, but when the person has passed away the virus that remains is the one that is on the cloth, on the plastic, on the body and in the air that remains inside the lungs of the person, "he added.

Optima Funeral Home received its first confirmed case of a deceased from COVID-19 this week.

"The family wants him to go to Mexico but for now the paperwork is too slow," Sánchez said.

This is because the county offices of the registry, the Department of Health and the State are physically closed and only serve online.

Marcela Celorio, Mexico's consul general in Los Angeles, said that the headquarters is still open to process the death certificate but everything depends on the corresponding offices to issue the required documents.

"If the person died from COVID-19, it is necessary that the documentation issued by the funeral home has additional information requested by the Mexican health authority," he explained.

"To carry out the process we need the official US documents, which are necessary and irreplaceable, to carry out the transfer of remains or ashes to Mexico … This procedure is done by the funeral home directly."

Optima Funeral Home is open during times of the coronavirus. (Archive)

Protective equipment in short supply

The Department of Health suggests that when transporting remains with a COVID-19 infection, mortuary and funeral workers should take precautions to ensure protection against bodily fluids or contamination of the eyes, mouth, nose, hands, or clothing.

This includes; Wear nitrile gloves when handling potentially infectious materials and wear resistant gloves over nitrile gloves if there is a risk of cuts, punctures, wounds or other skin-breaking injuries.

You should also wear a clean, long-sleeved, waterproof gown to protect skin and clothing and wear a plastic face shield, such as a face mask and glasses.

Sánchez said that they are doing everything possible to follow the appropriate indications but that their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is already in short supply and they must provide alternatives.

These include wearing special, full-body plastic suits.

"There are two suits that are put on the deceased that helps retain fluid … We are using them as a protection measure but we also have PPE that are gowns that doctors wear when they go to operate."

Limited funeral services

For now, at funeral services, no more than 10 people are allowed on site.

Funeral services for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are governed by a church service outside the grave.

Omar Gallarzo, director of operations for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said that the six funeral homes and 11 cemeteries that are governed by the Archdiocese had to take these drastic measures to help prevent COVID-19 contagion.

"We are allowing people whose family member has died to come … But no, they only come to visit their loved ones at the cemetery," Gallarzo said.

Optima requires that no more than 10 people attend the funeral service to protect family members and staff; for this reason they are given the option of showing the funeral with access to the relatives through a code in a live video.

Although it is sad for people, Gallarzo said that most have understood the seriousness of the problem and know that it is the best for everyone.

For his part, Sánchez said that there are difficult cases where family members who have been exposed to the deceased coronavirus are informed that they must be placed in voluntary isolation because they do not know if they are infected or not. This prevents them from attending your family member's funeral service.

And added that for now they are working with limited staff, some part-time and others with work from home.

"We have offered our families virtual counseling help," Sánchez said. "They can make us FaceTime, we send requests by email to prevent them from coming in person."

Gallarzo also said that in cemeteries that have funeral homes they are only letting in those who want to do the paperwork at the funeral home.

"If the family wishes, a memorial mass can be scheduled appropriately at a later date," he said.

The Archdiocese recommends that pastors notify family members who have already scheduled funeral masses to make the necessary arrangements.

Medicine experts explain that if a family member dies of coronavirus at home, it is important to treat it like any other type of infection and take the necessary measures to avoid contagion.

Household members should stay in another room or be separated from the patient as much as possible, explains the CDC. Household members should use a separate bedroom and bathroom, if available.

To find out which cemeteries and funeral homes of the archdiocese are closed visit:

Locations

To learn more about Optima Funeral Home's funeral services visit:

https://www.optimafuneralhome.com/

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