Has Covid-19 Increased The Cremations In The USA?

Cremation Solutions

The novel coronavirus, which was detected in the metropolitan area of Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province, continues to infect people around the world, including the United States. Since its discovery in late December, COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus, has infected over 3 million individuals, resulting in over 215,000 fatalities all over the world. While Spain, Italy, France, and the UK have posted over 20,000 deaths each, the US has recorded over 1 million coronavirus cases, a third of the world’s total infections, and over 57,000 deaths. That has put pressure on funeral homes and crematories across the country. Funeral homes are having to adjust to delays and the sadness of low attended funerals.

In New York, the hardest-hit state by the pandemic, there have been over 17,000 COVID-19-related deaths from a total of 295,137 infections. However, New York City has been the epicenter of the disease in the state, recording over 162,000 cases and 11,708 deaths as of Tuesday, March 28. While state administrations and health officials report that the number of fatalities has reached the backside of the death curve, funeral-home and crematory workers, whose duty is to ensure the dead are laid to rest respectfully, say they have never been busier.

Misinformation About Cremation Orders by the Government

Delayed FuneralsAs America continues to grapple with the pandemic, several images and reports on social media offer misguided information about what happens after people die from coronavirus. One particular image went viral, telling people that once a person is deceased, they become the government’s property and will be incinerated without wakes or funeral services.

The report has elicited contradicting responses from state agencies, medical examiners, and funeral directors. The NY Funeral Directors Association responded to the matter, saying: “We haven’t seen or heard of such claims. Funeral Homes in the state are still operating under the state guidelines.” Additionally, the New York State Department of Health noted that funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries, being essential businesses, were allowed to remain operational, despite other non-essential businesses remaining closed. The deceased require a proper send-off, complete with a wake, structured funeral, and burial. Nonetheless, funeral homes will be required to adhere to social distancing and only allow a limited number of attendees during these gatherings.

Funeral Homes Forced to Turn Away Grieving Families, Suggesting Cremation

Cremation BoxesWith the increasing number of deaths in the US continue to surge, the demand for funeral services has drastically spiked. Many funeral homes have exceeded their capacities, with some caskets lying in unsuitable areas such as the lobbies and corridors. For instance, the Funeral Director at Lawrence H Woodward Funeral Home in Brooklyn, Kendall Lindsay, said, “By the end of March, we had over 120 planned funeral services. As of April 5, the number had increased to 127. We are now compelled not to register any new cases because of the dwindling storage space.”

Throughout the city, staffs in mortuaries, morgues, and funeral homes continue to scramble and find space for new COVID-19-related deaths. “We currently have bodies that cannot be buried now. We will have to postpone the funeral services and hold them after at least one week or more,” said Lindsay, who was forced to turn away 20 families, leaving them with no other option but to cremate their loved ones with no wakes or proper funeral arrangements.

Although they may be dealing with many cases awaiting proper funeral arrangements, it is quite unprofessional of funeral homes to deny survivors to have a wake before the funeral and burial. It robs families of deceased persons of the much-needed condolences and support during such a difficult time. That goes against our human principles and sentimental values. Funeral services allow survivors to eulogize and share stories about the dead loved one, which is critical in ensuring that the deceased has a respectable send-off. In NY Bodies left unclaimed are usually buried by the State on Hart Island.

Hart Island

The Immense Backlog at Crematories

Following the decision by funeral homes to take any additional cases, many families have resorted to cremating the remains of their beloved. The situation has grown so dire, prompting cemetery directors to air their concerns, term it as the highest surge in demand that has never been experienced in many decades.

A significant fraction of the New York population prefers cremating the dead instead of burials. Typically, the four crematories located in the US most densely populated city could comfortably offer cremation services. Still, the coronavirus pandemic has rendered them inadequate to cater to the ever-increasing number of bodies waiting to be cremated. With such an unprecedented backlog of bodies in crematories, it is clear that outdated laws on burials and cremations to be amended. According to these statutes, cremation facilities can only be confined to cemeteries. While there are over 40 cemeteries across the five boroughs in New York, there is only a limited number of crematories.

Among the four facilities, one is located in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx, and the other two in Queens. The surge in the number of bodies has put pressure on resources in crematories. Currently, a location that used to cremate ten bodies each day now has to deal with a more significant daily workload of 15 bodies. Others have to cremate double the number of bodies they would in a single day. That has forced the state government to ease restrictions on air-quality regulations in the bid to allow crematories to extend their hours of operations. Still, many families continue to ring them at odd hours, making these locations busier than they ever been in decades.

Shortening the Wait: Covid-19 Victims Transported Upstate for Cremation

As a result of that, the pressure trickles down to hospitals where “new” dead bodies are presented in morgues in large numbers. Patients who have passed on now have to spend more time in the morgue because the “government restrictions have made it challenging for families to make quick funeral arrangements.” Furthermore, doctors and nurses are delaying signing death certificates because of the increasing backlog and newly reported cases that occur in their hundreds every day. That presents a big problem because bodies cannot be transported to crematory facilities without a complete death certificate.

The situation is so dire that caskets containing bodies of Covid-19 victims have filled funeral homes. The last resort is to transport them upstate to help families to access cremation services as quickly as possible.

Associate professor of mortuary sciences, Mr. David Penepent, who manages the funeral services administration program at the New York State University in Canton, started the “Hands with a Heart” initiative that works to transport the bodies to crematories in upstate New York and other neighboring states where there the number of bodies awaiting cremation is still manageable.

Mr. Penepent was overwhelmed when he was greeted by the astonishing number of cardboard caskets with bodies at one of the funeral homes in Queens. With help from his two students, they wheeled out the bodies, first lining them in the hallway, before gently laying the boxes in one of their two vans destined for a crematory outside New York.

Since the start of April, the Hands with a Heart program has transported decedents from overwhelmed cremation facilities and funeral homes to crematories in far-off places such as Pennsylvania and Vermont. According to Mr. Penepent, “These are not simply bodies. We are handling people with families who love them. Therefore, we do this with care, compassion, dignity, and respect.”

During the Easter weekend, the initiative had successfully moved 70 bodies, followed by 150 the following week, and last week, 300 bodies were transported. The program comes as a relief to grieving families that could have otherwise waited for days and even weeks to access cremation services. It has also eased the pressure off funeral homes and hospital morgues that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic.

Why Such a Backlog in Crematories During the Covid-19 Pandemic?

To curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the federal and state governments have laid down measures to try and control the transmission rate of the disease. Virtually every state went in lockdown with administrative officials urging people to practice social distancing. That meant that businesses were closed, reducing the income for many would-be-working Americans. Further, over 26 million have filed unemployment claims. That said, the economic crisis has forced families to turn to the economic appeal of cremation as the only option. Hopefully many will have full blown memorial services once social distancing is a memory.

Cremation Memorials Are More Important Than Ever!

With the lack of public funerals and the support that they bring to survivors. People are spending their money in more creative ways starting with visual online funerals and memorial pages where people can pay tribute from home. Keepsakes and jewelry that holds ashes inside is a way that people have been using to help bring comfort to the loss while keeping a physical part of their loved one closer, with no need to visit a cemetery.

Click Here For Our Full Selection of Crystals Made From Ashes
Crystal Gems Made From Ashes
Ashes in glass
               From Ashes Comes Art

 

 

 

Why is Scattering Ashes So Popular

Spreading Ashes
Everyone is Doing it!

The scattering of ashes is now the most popular thing to do with cremation ashes. Keeping ashes home in a cremation urn is still common, however the burial of the urn in a cemetery is being bypassed by the faster and more glamorous method of scattering the ashes to the four winds and becoming one with nature. In fact, research indicates that almost half of all Americans choose cremation over a ground burial or mausoleum. Of those being cremated I estimate that more then 60% are choosing to scatter. Why have scattering ashes become such an acceptable and apparently desirable aspect of the funeral process? I would say that one reason is that survivors can choose locations of natural beauty that are both meaningful to the deceased as well as those who live on. People are drawn towards nature when faced with a death, they want to do what’s natural and like the idea of returning to the earth ASAP! Sociologists suggest that it may have something to do with the fact that people are highly mobile now and generations of families rarely remain in the same area as they did 50+ years ago. Moreover, because the economy and job market are consistently unstable, it is less likely that a family member would remain living close enough to visit another family member’s grave for an extended period.

It Makes People Feel Good

Scattering Ashes at SeaPeople who have participated in scattering the ashes of a loved one say it is a deeply emotional experience that makes them feel closer to the deceased because they are doing something so personal and meaningful on behalf of the person’s remains.  In addition, knowing they are fulfilling their loved one’s last wish helps them deal with the loss of that person by creating a sense of oneness with his or her spirit. For some, scattering ashes strengthens the emotional bond they had with the deceased by renewing a special spiritual bond that cannot be experienced while alive.  When we allow the wind or water to embrace a loved one’s ashes, we feel deep within ourselves that they are experiencing a rapturous sensation of freedom, vibrant energy and serenity. Scattering ashes because the deceased wanted you to scatter their ashes over the sea, a beach at sunset, into the clouds or over mountains from an airplane can relieve the anger, sadness, guilt and pain of losing that person to the natural processes of birth, maturation and death.

 

More Affordable Than an Expensive Traditional Burial

Unless the deceased had the means to maintain a life insurance policy for 20 or more years, purchasing a traditional funeral is often left up to his or her family members. Caskets are expensive and require you to buy a cemetery plot. Essentially, people just do not have the money for a traditional burial anymore so they are choosing different and less conventional perspectives regarding funeral preparations and the location of a loved one’s final resting place. Today’s society is more concerned with the spiritual and ceremonial aspect of the funeral process and less concerned about the physical disposition of the traditional handling and viewing of the body.

The Going “Green” Movement

Green Ashes
Scattering = Green Footprint

Since the 1990s, “going green” has slowly but steadily improved all aspects of our lives; from recycling items at home, using natural ingredients in cleaning products and taking part in preserving the environment by establishing more animal reserves and protected wildlife areas. This concern over excessive land use and the destruction of forests for commercial purposes has also contributed to the popularity of cremation and scattering a loved one’s ashes. Injecting a body with harmful chemicals and putting it in a man manufactured casket then sealing it in a concrete vault, all to take up space, just isn’t cool anymore.

People are Living Longer and Making Their Own Burial Decisions

In 1900, the average lifespan for U.S. citizens was 46 for men and 48 for women. Today, it is 73 for men and 76 for women. This means that people are living long enough to make their own decisions about their final wishes instead of their relatives making funeral plans. According to surveys asking men and women why they opt for having their ashes scattered, the four main reasons for electing to be cremated are: 1) it is more affordable; 2) greener; 3) simpler to arrange and 4) personal preference. They love the idea of using a bunch of the money they saved on cremation and putting it into a grand celebration of their life in a more party like atmosphere.

 Water and Earth Scattering

Scattering In Ocean
Surfer Gets Scattered

Specially made urns are used to scatter ashes over a body of water or landscape that come in a variety of colors, shapes and styles. They are functional in a way to prevent accidental dispersion of ashes until the scattering ceremony takes place or are tube-like and come with a cap to keep ashes safe until the scattering ceremony. Some scattering urns even convert into a birdhouse following the scattering. Ashes get spread and birds get a new home in which they may continue the cycle of life. Scattering at sea can get a bit messy because of the wind and the waves. Using an urn that’s made to scatter ashes at sea can add ease and dignity to the scattering ceremony itself. Biodegradable urns that float a few minutes allowing people to toss flower petals as the urn drifts, then eventually sinks and dissolves in the water. Ashes are held safely in biodegradable urns until they are buried in the ground or placed in water, where the urn slowly disintegrates and returns to the elements from which it came.

Where and Why Do People Scatter Their Loved One’s Ashes?

The most popular places to scatter cremated remains are naturally meaningful places that the deceased loved and revered. Beaches, lakes, parks, a favorite vacation spot or even the Minneapolis Mall of America are places where “ashes” have been scattered. Over water and in the garden are the two most popular locations. Scattering ashes from a helicopter or small plane while flying above a place that was special to the deceased is also becoming more common.

Scattering Lets Your Spirit Soar
Scattering Lets Your Spirit Soar

Spiritual concepts surrounding the act of scattering a person’s ashes originally come from Hindu and Buddhist beliefs regarding physical, or bodily life. The belief is that the life one lives on Earth is ephemeral and the soul experiences many transmigrations as an eternal but ever-evolving spirit. Over thousands of years, Hindu and Buddhist beliefs concerning cremation were eventually adopted by mystical philosophers, spiritual individuals searching for an alternative to traditional religions and naturalists who wanted to symbolically return themselves to the place from which they came–the Earth.

Scattering Ashes Helps People Through the Grieving Process

After the death of a loved one, people experience five stages of grief–numbness, yearning, guilt, anger and acceptance–in varying intensities. Some may feel more anger than others while some miss the deceased so much they cannot move past the stage of “yearning” towards the final stage of acceptance. Reality may not hit a person until the memorial service is actually underway and they see the body of the deceased resting in

Scattering Ashes
Free At Last!

an open casket.

Following the strange sensation of disassociation after realizing that a loved one has passed away, most people have feelings of numbness replaced by a yearning for the loved one, an almost agitated state that causes moments of extreme anxiety, panic and hopelessness.  Watching the burial of a loved one–the whole process of lowering the casket into the grave and later, visiting the grave after it has been filled in with mounds of dirt–can be more upsetting than the actual passing away of the deceased. Although the belief that a person’s soul leaves the body at death dominates most Western religions, it is still hard to think about someone you loved very much as a body buried underground.

Cremation Jewelry and Keepsake Urns
–Another Way to Always Feel Close to a Loved One

Ashes Jewelry
Jewelry To Hold Ashes

In addition to scattering ashes, you can keep some of the loved one’s ashes always with you by placing a small amount of the ashes in cremation keepsake urns or jewelry pieces.  Cremation jewelry comes in three different styles: the kind filled by the customer, jewelry made with cremation ashes integrated into glass beads and jewelry made from the actual ashes.  After a scattering ceremony, cremation jewelry keepsakes are beautiful mementos that can help those having a difficult time with the grieving process hold onto their loved one in a symbolic way for as long as they want without needing to make an emotionally difficult visit to a grave site. This is why it’s always a good idea to retain a portion of ashes to be shared with surviving family and friends.

Jeff Staab is a funeral director in southern Vermont. A certified Life Cycle Celebrant. He owns and operates www.cremationsolutions.com and is a cremation memorial and ash scattering specialist. When he’ not dreaming up the next cool cremation product he enjoys adventure in the mountains and on the sea, cooking for friends, social responsibility and green living. He can be reached at jeff@cremationsolutions.com

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Introducing Cremation Urn Hero Figures

At Cremation Solutions, we are always striving to bring our customers innovative and creative custom urns to hold the ashes of a loved one. Today, people are searching for unique and special urn keepsakes that they can cherish forever. One of our latest cremation urns is the action figure urn. These true-to-life action figures look just like your loved one and make a lasting memory. Unlike traditional cremation urns, these urns hold ashes in the head.

How it’s Done

These unique custom urns can be completed with just one or two photos of your loved one. We use a patent-pending 3-D modeling method used by typical 3-D designers. The face and body are reconstructed in 3-D, and this lifelike figure is available in 12 inches. Software is used to adjust color, and you can capture any age, including mid-life. The figure is comprised of hard resin and in 24-bit color. Following state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies, we are able to create urn keepsakes that will last a lifetime. These unique cremation urns can be custom ordered and delivered to your doorstep in just four weeks.

Changing the Paradigm

Much like personal urns with an upper sculpture of a loved one, these keepsake urns are revolutionizing the way we memorialize a departed one. While the media may poke some fun, when you think about it, action figure custom urns are the idyllic way to have a real-life image of your loved one right in front of you. It a real way to reconnect with your loved one and reminisce all the good times shared together. These custom urns are just like a favorite photo; only, the representation is dimensional. Like a pair of new shoes, it just takes time to feel comfortable with any new idea.

Creative Ideas for Cremation Urn Action Figures

Roberts Urn For Ashes
Robert Pattinson as Indiana Jones Keepsake Urn

Just like a statue, these endearing cremation action figures can be placed anywhere in the home. It’s really up to you. Den tables, fireplace mantles and bedroom tables are ideal. Placing your cremation action figure on a fireplace mantle surrounded by other other family portraits and pictures is one idea that will keep your departed one in perfect company. On an end table in the bedroom, you can keep your loved one close do your heart while sleeping. Maybe your loved one had a favorite room in the home like a sun room. Displaying a cremation action figure in their favorite room is sure to bring back fond memories. Even if you take a weekend trip or go on vacation, you can pack up your cremation action figure and take it right along with you. The ideas are limitless, and it’s up to you.

Mom's Urn
Mom Loved Her Harley

Let’s face it. The loss of any loved one is a personal experience of deep loss and sadness. There is nothing that can prepare you for it. Healing takes a long time along with the support of other family members and friends. Urn keepsakes that hold ashes of a loved one and depict a real-life image and sculpture give you something to hold on to in the real world. Cremation urns really serve two purposes. They are a dignified place for your loved one, and a place where you can keep your loved one close for personal comfort. At the same time, custom urns fashioned into the image of your loved one are like having a loved one right at your side.

At Cremation Solutions, we’ve been in the funeral business for many years and treat our clients with the highest of respect and compassion. We offer a wide variety of cremation urns for both people and pets, including cremation jewelry and traditional urns in many styles. Action figure urn keepsakes are the new kid on the block. Be sure to visit our website at www.cremationsolutions.com for unique and well-made cremation urns. You’ll find that all of our products are high quality, and we offer excellent customer service. Purchase Urn Figures HERE
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