GROSSE POINTE, Mich. – A new directive from the state is a much smaller window than many in the business of death are used to. While, thankfully, there haven’t been many stories of issues -- it is adding one more layer to a complicated and difficult process during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
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The new order says hospitals and funeral directors only have 24 hours to notify the person in charge of a body, such as a family member. After that, it's 48 hours to make arrangements. A fast-moving process for such a difficult time.
“The order is designed to facilitate the process of final disposition. To relive the pressure that funeral homes are feeling during this COVID-19 pandemic,” Phil Douma, with the Michigan Funeral Directors Assoc., said.
But it’s not just the arranging that’s changed. At Verheyden Funeral Homes in Grosse Pointe, nearly every step of putting a loved one to rest has changed to avoid spreading coronavirus. Family is rotated through visitation 10 at a time. Seating is set up to be socially distant. Staff is also taking extra steps while preparing and handling bodies.
“There are some challenges back and forth because of customs and religions and so forth,” Verheyden owner Brian Joseph said. “But at the end of the day as long as everybody stays in their lane with it all works. But it’s an education.”
READ: Family struggles to plan fitting funeral amid COVID-19 pandemic
So far, funeral homes like Verheyden say they haven’t had much trouble with locating family and making arrangements because the order is so new. They have said the work from everyone from hospitals to county offices to their own staff have played such a big part in making sure the dead can still be honored during such unsure times.