‘We couldn’t take any more.’ Coronavirus deaths strain US crematoriums

In some parts of the United States hardest hit by the coronavirus, crematoriums are running 12-hour shifts and burning up to 25 bodies a day, USA Today reports.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said John Vincent Scalia, a Staten Island funeral director, The New York Post reported. “I’ve experienced volume — we handled 50 World Trade Center funerals — but I’ve never been through anything like this.”

A Connecticut facility has been so busy that a crematory chamber overheated and sparked a fire, The Stamford Advocate reported.

More than 2.5 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 174,000 deaths as of April 21, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 804,000 confirmed cases with more than 43,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. In the United States, President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

In New York City, where Johns Hopkins University says more than 14,600 people have died of coronavirus, four crematoriums handle all of the city’s cremation needs, Reuters reported.

The backlog for cremation dates has grown so long that funeral homes and hospitals are running out of room to store the bodies, according to the publication.

“It seemed like it went from zero to 60 in two seconds,” said Eric Barna at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, USA Today reported. “The numbers just skyrocketed.”

Cremators working 12-hour shifts at the cemetery burn 25 bodies a day, according to the publication. The city has suspended air quality rules to allow crematories to operate 24 hours a day but some older crematory chambers, called retorts, can’t operate that long.

Despite the challenges posed by the influx of the deceased, Scalia told the New York Post his job is more important than ever.

“We’re doing everything we can as normal as we can,” he said, according to the Post. “It’s important for these people to have closure.”

But issues still persist. In Connecticut, a retort door opened April 6 at Cognetta’s Funeral Home because of overuse, releasing heat and smoke, The Stamford Advocate reported.

Damaged wiring caused a malfunction, the newspaper reported, but it was quickly fixed to keep up with the increase in bodies.

“We are trying to help them out,” owner Nicholas Cognetta told The Stamford Advocate, “otherwise there will be another health issue.”

“We have been taxing these machines with corona(virus) needs,” said Cognetta, according to the publication. “We have never had the same demand as we have had in these past three weeks.”

In Detroit, one crematory had to rent a 32-foot refrigerated trailer to store bodies until they could be cremated, USA Today reports. In New Orleans, a funeral home that formerly specialized in traditional jazz funerals now has cremators working 14 hours a day.

“It’s carnage to have this level of tragedy in such a short period of time,” said Malcolm Gibson of Professional Funeral Services in New Orleans, according to the publication. Gibson himself has lost an uncle to coronavirus, and employees have lost parents.

“You take a minute, you cry, you reflect,” Gibson said, USA Today reported. “But you know you can’t stay there. You have a high obligation to the families you’re serving.”

This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 3:26 PM with the headline "‘We couldn’t take any more.’ Coronavirus deaths strain US crematoriums."