We put clothes on the body of the deceased to create the illusion that he is dressed in them. When a loved one dies, the most important thing for all of us is to say goodbye. But the coronavirus robbed even the Italians of this opportunity. It deprives the dead of a dignified exit and exacerbates the grief of the living by making it impossible to be together.
“The pandemic kills twice,” says Andrea Cherato, an employee of a funeral home in Milan. “First, it forces people to die in isolation, away from their loved ones, and then there is no one around.” Families are devastated and cannot cope,” says Cherato.
The majority of Covid-19 victims die in total isolation. Many Covid-19 victims die in isolated hospital wards where neither family nor friends are allowed. Visits are prohibited due to the high risk of infection. Doctors say the virus is not transmitted after a patient dies, but it can remain on their clothes for several hours. That is why the bodies are immediately sealed tightly. “So many families ask us to let them have a last look at the deceased. But it is forbidden,” says Massimo Mankastroppa, a funeral director from Cremona, a city in Lombardy. It is impossible to dress the deceased in their favorite or most festive clothes, as is customary. Everyone is buried in identical, faceless hospital gowns. But Mankastropa is doing everything in his power.
“We put the clothes the family gives us on the body – as if they were dressed in them,” says the undertaker. In the current unprecedented situation, the functions of relatives, friends and priests have unexpectedly fallen to undertakers, since the close relatives of a deceased person are usually in quarantine at the time of death. “We take full responsibility for the deceased,” says Andrea Cherato from Milan.
The funeral industry in Italy is working non-stop, the number of Covid-19 victims is counted in the hundreds per day. “We send families photos of the coffin in which their loved one will be buried, and we collect the body from the hospital and bury or cremate it. They have no choice but to trust us,” continues the funeral director. The hardest thing for him is not being able to alleviate the suffering of the mourners. He can’t even offer them a simple list of services, he is now very limited. “We cannot dress [the deceased], we cannot style their hair, we cannot apply posthumous makeup – we cannot make them beautiful and serene. And that is very sad,” says Cherato.
Andrea Cherato has been working in the funeral industry for 30 years, following in his father’s footsteps. He believes that even the smallest moments can ease the mourner’s condition: “To touch the cheek of a loved one for the last time, to hold his hand, to see him go dignified on his last journey – this is extremely important. Not being able to do this causes serious psychological trauma. In the midst of the epidemic, gravediggers face pressure from relatives. Behind closed doors, they try to pass handwritten notes, family heirlooms, drawings and poems, with the request that they be placed in the coffin of the deceased. But now it is impossible. Burial of foreign objects is temporarily prohibited.
Funeral service workers are highly susceptible to infection, and their personal protective equipment is quickly running out. When a person dies at home, the funeral director comes in full protective gear: goggles, masks, gloves, and special clothing. For those who have just lost a loved one, this is an added stress. Many gravediggers are in quarantine themselves, their businesses closed. There is concern that those still working will soon run out of protective gear.
In Italy, more people have died from coronavirus than in any other country in the world. “We have enough special funds for another week, but when they run out, we just won’t be able to operate. And we are still the largest network of funeral homes in the country. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for others,” Cherato said. In Italy, funerals are banned as an emergency measure to contain the coronavirus. For a country with deep Catholic traditions, this is an unprecedented step.
Sometimes the burial takes several seconds, often it is done without it at all. Andrea buries someone at least once a day, and no one comes to say goodbye because of the quarantine. “Only one or two people can be present at the funeral. [If someone comes], no one has the strength to make a speech, and the process continues in complete silence,” the undertaker explains. He tries to avoid such situations as much as possible. Andrea goes to the church, opens the coffin and asks the priest to perform the blessing ceremony quickly. In most cases, the entire process takes only a few seconds, as the gravedigger waits for the next coronavirus victim.
“Coffins are stacked in churches, there is not enough time to dig graves in cemeteries.” The funeral industry in Italy is under severe pressure and the number of deaths continues to rise. As of March 24, nearly 7,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the country. This is more than any other country in the world. “Near our branch in Cremona (Lombardy), we have rows of coffins that look like a supermarket,” says Cherato. “Hospital morgues in northern Italy are overcrowded.” “The hospital chapel in Cremona is more like a carpenter’s workshop,” says Massimo Mankastropa, an employee of the local branch. Dozens of coffins are also stacked in churches, waiting their turn for burial. But in Bergamo, the city where most people died, the cemeteries are overcrowded and the military has been called in to solve the problem. During the night last week, residents watched in silence as a convoy of army trucks drove through the streets of the city carrying more than 70 coffins.
The Italian Army was called in to transport the deceased to Bergamo. Inside were the residents of Bergamo, who were being transported to a neighboring city for cremation. Few things have been more shocking since the outbreak of the epidemic in Italy than this sight. Doctors and medical personnel in Italy are being called heroes for saving people in these dark times for the country. Funeral home and funeral director employees remain in the shadows. “Many see us simply as carriers of souls,” says Massimo.
“Everything will be fine” – Italians write optimistically everywhere. For many Italians, he says, they are akin to Charon, the ominous mythological figure who carried the dead across the river that separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. An ungrateful activity in the eyes of many. “But I assure you, all we want is to make a person’s death as dignified as possible,” the undertaker says. #Andratuttobene – the most popular hashtag in Italy since the epidemic began. It translates from Italian as “everything will be fine”. It is used with an image of a rainbow. So far there is no reason to rejoice. Everyone is praying for the sun to come out, but when it will happen, no one knows. Illustrations by Jill Dasmalchi.