NewsLocal NewsCoronavirus

Actions

Florida funeral homes overwhelmed with bodies amid COVID-19 surges

Posted at 8:02 AM, Aug 26, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-26 08:02:29-04

ORLANDO, Fla. — A crematory near Orlando says they’re overwhelmed with the remains of people that need to be cremated and they're not alone.

West Side Crematory says there’s been an influx of bodies like they’ve never seen, worse than the first wave of COVID-19. The area where bodies are stored prior to being cremated is stacked to the ceiling as staff is working day and night to honor the dead.

Orlando NBC station WESH 2 called 20 funeral homes and crematories, but many said they were too busy for interviews. Some were too busy to even talk on the phone. One funeral director said that in a 30-minute period where he talked to his partner, four new cases came in.

Mike Marchetti, the area manager for Newcomer Funeral Homes, says as much as they don’t want to, sometimes they have to delay meetings with families and delay funerals because they only have so much staff.

“So the family comes in and they say we would like to have the funeral on Friday and we have to tell then ‘I’m sorry we can’t accommodate a funeral on Friday because our schedule is full,” Marchetti said.