The number of deaths are increasing. The count for this Thursday 18 November, out of five funeral homes approved by the Ministry of Health is 23. Wherever it all due and recorded as Covid, we cannot confirm. But there is an increase in the number of deaths since the confirmation that the Delta variant is in circulation in the territory.
They are the funeral parlours who work in line with the Ministry of Health’s Health Bureau. They follow the established protocols to the letter and either bury or cremate Covid 19 victims. Their work begins as soon as the body is delivered to them in the zipper bag by the morgue. Bathing, preparation, dressing, securing the virus… and all this under strict sanitary measures.
9 funerals at Elie & Sons Ltd
Gino Lew: “according to protocol but also traditions”
Elie & Sons Ltd is the company that organised the most funerals on Thursday. They had nine in total. “The trend has been increasing over the last few weeks. We consider the average to 4.2 funerals per day. Our staff is trained to Australian standards, and we make sure we respond to the distress call of the grieving as quickly as possible. Since 15 September, we have been working to provide relief to families bereaved by Covid 19, at the 153 funerals and cremations we have done, by offering them a last moment in accordance with the protocol and religious and cultural traditions with their loved ones who have been swept away by the pandemic, ensuring their safety from the virus. The pandemic is not ready to end, and we still fear the worst. Funeral companies will have to modernise their services and follow the protocols and sanitary measures adapted to this virus and its variants, but also offer a funeral procession worthy of the name. After the Eco Funeral, we are working on new concepts at the moment,” says Gino Lew, Senior Manager and Business Developer
5 burials at Moura
Janik Rousseau: “avoid any leakage of the virus”
At the Moura Funeral Enterprise, Funeral Manager Janik Rousseau reports that 5 funerals were organised on this day. “This wave is quite serious, in the course of the last week we have recorded up to ten per day. We are taking care of our protective equipment and disaster bags to avoid at all cost any leakage of the virus during the funerals.
Valère Funeral and Cremation records 1
Julien Rajaram: “The average per day is 3”
On Thursday, Valere Funeral and Cremation conducted one funeral but “on Wednesday we had 4 and on Tuesday 5. The number is dynamic, and our average per day is estimated at 3. It is true that the staff works in a certain fear, despite all the security measures and protective equipment,” explains Julien Rajaram, operations manager.
6 at Al Ihsaan Funeral Services
Kaleem Oozeer: “Within the health, pandemic and Islamic protocols”
Al Ihsaan Funeral Services has 6 funerals on this day. And since 15 September they will have passed the 110 mark. This voluntary organisation only deals with Muslim disaster victims and this includes, apart from respecting health protocols, Islamic protocols as well. As Kaleem Oozeer, head of operations explains, “We are on the alert because we are making sure that the funerals are carried out as quickly as possible as recommended in Islam. Our duty is to provide a burial that is within the health, pandemic and Islamic frameworks.
Al Hudaibiyah Funeral Services has 2
Riyad Peertum: “With the greatest precautions”
The same goes for Al Hudaibiyah Funeral Services, also a voluntary organisation, which carried out the funeral of Suhaylah Naudeer, the 20-year-old mother who tested positive for Covid 19 during her pregnancy and was taken away on Thursday morning, a week after giving birth and has been admitted to intensive care ever since. “We have recorded two funerals on this day. And since 15 September, a good 40. We have to operate with the utmost care so as not to produce another contamination, especially when we lower the body into the grave. The zipper bags must not tear or open at the zip level. This is to say that our team remains under strict supervision of the sanitary norms established by the ministry while respecting the Islamic norms in the burial of a body,” says Riyad Peertum, Director of this Association.
The mission of these companies requires faultless handling of contaminated corpses! The worries of each of the above-mentioned funeral companies are the increase in death cases and the management/preparation of these contaminated bodies for burial or cremation in record time. Following their statements, the system is undeniably operational and functioning well for the time being but there is always room for modernisation to international norms.
