Funeral director Keith Massey has defended recommendations from the Irish Association of Funeral Directors that all funeral services for coronavirus victims should be postponed and the deceased brought straight to the crematorium or cemetery for committal.
The recommendations also advised that transport for families of the deceased, “eg. limousines and saloons”, should not be provided and that funeral instructions should be given to undertakers by bereaved families “over the phone only”.
Relatives of the deceased “should not be permitted to attend the funeral director’s offices or funeral homes”, it added.
Mr Massey told RTÉ radio that often air can be trapped in the lungs of the deceased at the time of death which can be released later.
He also queried how long the virus would remain in the deceased, an issue that had not been addressed by the HSE.
Even small gatherings of family who had been in contact with the person who died from the virus were an opportunity for cross infection, that was also the case with driving in a limousine.
Mr Massey asked if people had done enough when they were living to stop the spread of the virus “do we let our guard down when they pass away?
“We don’t want to be lax in our procedures. This is still unknown territory.”
One possible solution, he suggested might be to hold funerals at a later date when family members have been given a clean bill of health.