Photo/Illutration A transparent body bag that the Kobe city government makes available for funeral services for novel coronavirus patients (Hideki Muroya)

So many lives forever changed by the coronavirus pandemic. This even extends to funeral services for the deceased, robbing families and friends of those precious moments to bid farewell and mourn together.

This harsh reality confronted the son of a woman in her 60s who died in late March. Her body was delivered to a crematorium in the Kanto region and consigned to the furnace without any ceremony.

Only the son and two employees of the funeral service company were present. The cremation proceeded in silence, and that was the end of it.

The woman had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from overseas.

As a precaution against the risk of spreading infection, the body was loaded in a body bag and placed in a hearse whose interior had been altered to ensure the coffin was completely separated from the driver’s seat.

Instead of black mourning attire, the funeral service staff wore hazmat suits.

The son was not permitted to see his mother’s face. He was there only to receive her ashes in an urn at the end.

This is the new norm, whether people are from humble or privileged backgrounds.

When comedian Ken Shimura, a household name, died of complications from COVID-19 on March 29 at the age of 70, his brother poured out his heart to reporters.

“We had to bid a farewell without seeing his face,” he said. “It was really tough.”

The anguish of Shimura’s sibling struck a chord with the public.

WHO PROTECTS FUNERAL STAFF?

Under guidelines issued by the health ministry, each deceased individual “should be completely contained and sealed in a non-transmitting body bag.”

Family members and others are permitted to accompany the deceased to their final resting place so long as they take measures to prevent the risk of infection spreading.

But who protects funeral service staff?

According to funeral home insiders, many funeral service companies have turned down requests to transport the bodies of infected individuals. Some have even refused to hold a funeral service.

“Our staff are afraid of getting infected,” said one source. “We simply don’t have the proper protective gear available,” said another.

Mizue Sougisho, a Tokyo metropolitan government-managed crematorium in the capital’s Edogawa Ward, asked funeral service companies to inform bereaved families of the infected not to attend cremations.

"The decision was made to thwart the spread of the virus among staff and other attendees," said a metropolitan government official who manages parks.

Another funeral business insider in the Kanto region explained the dilemma that companies face.

“Protective gear is not free. Who will pay for it? We don’t even have enough masks in stock. I wish (the government) would show some consideration for the funeral business, too.”

The Kobe city government in March hastily arranged for transparent body bags made of polyethylene and nylon to be made available and distributed to designated medical care providers for infectious diseases in the city.

That, at least, allows bereaved families to see the face of a loved one and bid a farewell in a moment of formal closure.

“We want to respect the intentions of bereaved families and comply with their wishes as much as possible,” a city official said.

(This article was written by Ari Hirayama and Hideki Muroya.)