Coronavirus has changed funeral rites in the Balkans
Doctors considered crowded funerals, traditional in Balkan countries, to be one of the reasons for the rapid spread of coronavirus infection.
This was reported by BalkanInsight, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Once huge funerals these days are held only by a small circle of close relatives and friends who have to adhere to safety measures. For example, relatives of patients who died after being diagnosed with coronavirus must identify them while wearing protective suits. Funeral company employees must wear special suits and disinfect the area from which the body is taken for burial. Participants in such funerals must also undergo a mandatory 14-day self-isolation,” the publication writes.
Funeral processions are now carried out at short notice, and in some countries police monitor funerals to make sure everyone follows the rules. In some countries, infected people are now buried only in sealed metal coffins, rather than the old-style wooden coffins.
In Romania, currently no more than eight people can attend a funeral ceremony, and traditional pre-burial rituals are not currently allowed. A Mass for the repose of the soul of the deceased, for example, should be celebrated near the burial site, and not in a chapel or church.
In North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Moldova, Serbia and Croatia, the number of people allowed to attend funerals has been reduced to a minimum of 8-10 people. In Croatia, published obituaries must not contain any information about the place and time of the funeral, while music and candle deliveries are also no longer organized.
In Romania, Montenegro and Albania, there were reports that the coronavirus spread rapidly after the funeral. There was at least one case, in the northern Albanian town of Hasi, where a funeral service with mass attendance turned out to be a hotspot for the coronavirus. Media reported that about 13 people were infected at this event alone.
In Montenegro, on April 3, the head of the Institute of Public Health, Boban Mugosa, said that a funeral held in the coastal city of Ulcinj resulted in almost 40 infections. Montenegrin media reported that after the funeral, 15 of the infected were registered in Tuzi, so the municipality was placed in quarantine.
Coronavirus Changes Funeral Rituals in the Balkans