The opinion
News
Cities such as Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City report saturation of crematories and funeral homes due to an increase in COVID cases – 19 Funeral floats await their turn to enter the San Isidro Pantheon in Azcapotzalco , Mexico City. Photo: Reform Agency
With more than 6 thousand 762 hospitalized and at least 23 thousand 292 dead recognized by Covid – 19, crematoriums and funeral homes in Mexico City are overwhelmed in their “new peak” .
The same situation is recorded in other cities, such as Monterrey in Nuevo León and Guadalajara Jalisco. Despite the fact that they double hours and carry out cremations until dawn, the 17 crematoria in the Capital of the Country are not enough.
According to testimonials, it takes longer than 48 hours to cremate a body and the wait for new relatives increases.
“ This second outbreak, the funeral sector sees it as very worrying, it is alarming. Although the authority has provided all the facilities and we have worked hand in hand, unfortunately we can no longer cope “, explains David Vélez, President of the Association of Owners of Funeral Homes and Embalmers of Mexico City (CDMX).
The management of thousands of dead relentlessly in 10 months of the pandemic mark them. Until 20 percent of the guild has died during the pandemic and 50 percent have been infected.
“AND a I don’t know if I’m stressed or crazy, so on that magnitude. It is very sad to understand someone who begs you to perform a funeral service “, adds Vélez.
The increase in deaths is such that it is dimensioned even in bureaucratic processes. A procedure that was previously carried out in 10 minutes to release bodies, now it takes up to 12 hours.
The Funeral Association estimates that deaths increased 500 percent compared to one year without a pandemic and more than 100 percent against the first “peak”.
In Monterrey , funeral home employees such as Protecto Deco Santa Catarina admit that the delivery of ashes could take as long as 15 days up to a month, while in the branch of the Center they receive between 10 and 12 bodies a day, when before there were no more than five.
An example: the ashes of María del Rosario, from 50 years, who died the 26 from December because of Covid – 20, had not been delivered until yesterday to their relatives.
In Guadalajara, from January to December 2020, in the two municipal crematoria 2 thousand were cremated 13 corpses, while in 2019 were 769, which represents an increase of 161. 76 percent.
“It is more than double what has increased (…) We have the four ovens running at 100 percent “, commented the director of Cemeteries of the Guadalajara City Council, Alberto Martínez.
With information from Gabriela Villegas and Fernanda Carapia, Reform Agency.
Keep reading: Mobility in Mexico City collapses after Metro lines close due to fire
We recommend you