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National

Pressure piling on funeral directors

Funeral directors have welcomed the government's decision to grant funeral directors and embalmers a class travel exception.

This change will help ease delays when entering and exiting Auckland border checkpoints to transfer the deceased as directors try to reduce the all-time-high backlog for tangihanga. 

It's coming on to a year now since Covid-19 first arrived in this country, and Tipene Funerals is well aware of how infectious the disease is, Kaiora Tipene from Tipene Funerals says.
 
And under the alert rules family members have been told to wait in their cars until someone has exited the funeral home, then they can be welcomed in. Only 10 people are allowed to be present to farewell the deceased at all times.

"The deceased does not belong to us, and the body should return to the whānau pani. Whatever concerns the whānau have is a concern that we take into account. The kaikaranga takes one spot, those who sit on the taumata, the one who is in charge of karakia. We can still practise our tikanga Māori and also follow procedures," Tipene says.

Auckland recently concluded its third lockdown, only to be told in the weekend that it would be returning to Alert Level 3.

The sudden changes of alert levels have added more pressure on funeral homes which still have to meet the demand.

"There are different guidelines for each alert level, which can be tedious. We sometimes find ourselves in situations where we have to remind family members of the rules."

Adding to that,  Tipene says that before Covid-19 hit these shores, the funeral home was already struggling with a backlog of the deceased stored temporarily at their funeral home.

"At this stage, we're having to preserve bodies in a way that they are able to last up to a week before they start to deteriorate. We have a chiller room for the deceased that can hold up to 20 bodies at a time." 

Funeral directors struck a major issue not being classed as essential workers but that has now been resolved.

"What we have been granted is a class travel exemption by Dr Bloomfield. If for example the funeral home is within the border but the family is outside the border, now a funeral director can go and visit them with that class exemption. But the funeral director has to take into account any Covid-19 requirements and has to be careful with social distancing and handwashing."

Restoring proper funeral protocols is what this funeral home is hoping for in the near future.

"I just hope we can return to normaI," Tipene says. "I miss being able to hongi, to hug, and our Māori customs."