Dealing with corona dead is now part of everyday life at funeral institutes in the district.
Particular caution is required here.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen - From Corona hotspots in Saxony, pictures of stacked coffins were recently seen: You couldn't keep up with the funerals of Covid victims.
Fortunately, the funeral parlors in the district are far from such a situation.
However, they are all regularly confronted with the burial of corona dead.
And this too - like practically everything in these times - does not happen quite every day.
Alfred Sand reports that a person who has died with or from Corona has to be buried at the Denk grief agency "since the beginning of December".
He is the operations manager of the Tölz-Murnau branch, which includes branches in Bad Tölz and Wolfratshausen.
Overall, however, the number of these cases is “thank God within limits,” he says.
The Tölz undertaker Max Riedl explains that his company of the same name has so far buried around 20 people who died with or from Corona this year.
"Two weeks ago about every second person we buried was corona-positive," says Thomas Balan from the Geretsried family company Klein.
In the meantime, however, this number is decreasing again.
The workload involved in burials has increased
Valentin Zirngibl, one of the owners of the funeral parlor Zirngibl, one of whose eight locations Geretsried, speaks of "currently many" cases.
Overall, the number of burials moves within the scope of the usual fluctuations.
"But the workload per burial has increased." Riedl confirms: "The care of the deceased is carried out with great care." It becomes clear that the process differs from other cases when an infectiousness is indicated on the death certificate.
Whether the person affected had corona or another illness - such as hepatitis or tuberculosis - "we only find out from talking to relatives," says Balan.
The procedure is basically the same for every infectious disease.
When picking up the dead body, the funeral home's employees wear full-body protective suits, airtight goggles, a respirator, in front of a face visor, shoe covers and gloves - "and several pairs, because a crack can quickly occur on the wooden coffin splinters or screws" so balan.
"There are currently no conclusive studies on how long the virus has been contagious," says Sand from the Denk grief agency.
"But it is assumed that there is still a possibility of infection five to seven days after death."
Due to the risk of infection: Corona deaths are no longer allowed to be dressed
According to Thomas Balan, the deceased's mouth and nose are covered first, then the whole body with cloths soaked in disinfectant.
In addition, the body comes in an airtight sack.
"Unfortunately, the deceased is then no longer allowed to be dressed," regrets undertaker Zirngibl.
“The clothes are put in the coffin.” Once the coffin is closed, according to Balan it stays closed and is “clearly marked” with a bright red sticker.
This also means that relatives are generally denied the opportunity to say goodbye in an open coffin.
According to the head of the branch network, Denk also avoids this.
But he adds: Theoretically, a contact-free farewell to the open coffin is possible according to the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute.
This applies in individual cases with the municipality or cemetery operator, to coordinate with the clergy and relatives.
Farewell to the open saying no longer possible
The conversations with the bereaved also follow special rules in Corona times.
Disinfection, spit protection and wearing masks are standard in all institutes.
In the case of relatives of corona-positive people, “it is good for us if they can bring a negative test with them,” says Balan.
After all, you sit in a room for an hour or two.
In some cases, the conversations are also conducted via video conference - for example when the bereaved are themselves in quarantine.
But no matter what the cause of death was: In Corona times, saying goodbye is generally not easy and is subject to special conditions.
A maximum of 25 people from the closest circle are allowed to attend the funeral.
"The grief work is extremely difficult," says Zirngibl - just weighing up who is allowed to be there and who is not.
“In large families, sometimes not even the grandchildren are allowed to come.” Balan also knows: “Of course, nobody wants their mother to have a funeral like this.” Nevertheless, according to him, the bereaved generally react very understandingly.
They are already familiar with the strict corona rules in clinics or nursing homes and also want to protect themselves.
In the case of cremations, there is in principle the possibility of postponing the urn burial until these regulations are relaxed again, explains Sand.
The urn can be kept in the crematorium or funeral home for up to six months.
"Most of them want a burial soon after all," explains Riedl from Tölzer, "because saying goodbye is simply part of it".
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