Coffins Are Running Low And Bodies Are Piling Up, Hong Kong Funeral Services Are Overwhelmed By COVID-19

JAKARTA - Traditional wooden coffins are running low in Hong Kong, as authorities scramble to increase morgue space in the battle against COVID-19, which has flooded funeral homes.

"I've never seen so many bodies piled together," funeral director Lok Chung, who has worked around the clock, with about 40 funerals held in March, up from about 15 in an average month, told Reuters. April 6.

"I've never seen a family member so sad, so disappointed, so helpless," continued Chung, wearing a gray suit with a black polo shirt.

Since the fifth wave of coronavirus hit the former British colony this year, more than a million infections and more than 8.000 deaths have been reported.

The situation of corpses being piled up in the emergency room next to the patient had taken many by surprise, as the places in the morgue had already been filled.

The long wait to process death documents has hampered work, added Chung, who rushed from the morgue last week, to make final arrangements for his newest COVID-19 patient.

In fact, the family of a woman who died on March 1 is still waiting for the papers to allow them to claim her body, he added.

Also lacking are traditional paper replicas of items such as cars to homes and other personal items, which are burned as offerings at Chinese cemeteries for the dead to use in the afterlife.

Most of the delays were caused by transportation congestion from neighboring southern China, Shenzhen, which supplies a lot of goods but is now also battling the COVID-19 outbreak.

Infections among staff at funeral homes also pose a significant challenge, said another funeral director, Hades Chan, 31.

"Nearly a quarter of the people can't work. So, some orphanages have to gather staff among themselves to keep working," he said.

Separately, housewife Kate, 36, said her father-in-law's death in March from COVID-19, brought great emotion to the family, adding her biggest regret was not being able to visit him in hospital.

"When they thought he wouldn't make it, we rushed there, but it was too late," the woman, who gave only one name, told Reuters, holding back tears during the funeral service.

"Only now can we see him one last time," he continued.

China supplies more than 95 percent of the 250 to 300 coffins that Hong Kong needs each day, according to city hygiene and food official Irene Young.

Hong Kong received more than 3.570 coffins during the March 14-26 period, after the Chinese-controlled city government coordinated with mainland authorities.

The six crematoriums are now run around the clock by Young's department carrying out nearly 300 cremations a day, or twice the usual rate. Meanwhile, the public morgue has been expanded to accommodate 4.600 bodies from the previous 1.350, authorities said.

In this regard, the non-governmental organization Forgets Thee Not has partnered with eco-friendly coffin maker LifeArt Asia to donate 300 of the coffins and 1.000 boxes of preservatives to six public hospitals.

Each casket, made of cardboard with recycled wood fiber, can withstand a weight of up to 200 kg (440 lb).

When placed in a coffin or body bag, the powder-like preservative turns into a gas, to keep the body in its natural state for up to five days.

"We are in the middle of a storm," said LifeArt Asia chief executive, Wilson Tong.

"And in the midst of this storm, we are trying to give some time off," he concluded.