BY VANESSA GONYE The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new way of approaching issues among Zimbabweans who witnessed a huge number of fellow citizens succumbing to the pandemic after the second wave that hit the country between December 2020 and January this year. NewsDay (ND) reporter Vanessa Gonye recently interviewed Nyaradzo Funeral Services Group chief executive officer (CEO), Phillip Mataranyika (PM) on how they coped during the COVID-19 peak period where deaths averaged 60 per day. He also gave insights into their 20-year journey in the funeral and life assurance business.  ND: How has it been like offering funeral services at a time COVID-19 was at its peak? PM: Our systems got tested, our capacity got tested and our resolve was also put to the test. Despite the situation, our resolve was to keep our promises and deliver to the clients that looked up to us in their time of need. We managed to maintain the decency and dignity despite the causes of death. The COVID-19 peak period gave us the chance and opportunity to explore new ways of managing bereavements and we are happy to say that we managed to adapt to the new normal. Research on previous pandemics implied prudence on our part to institute measures which ensured that we were up to what the situation demanded. We have been consistent in delivering what we promised. ND: How is business generally? Are there any challenges like customers failing to cope and in the end abandoning their policies? PM: The business side obviously receives a knock when the environment experiences the level of fatalities we encountered and these are basics of any insurance business. We always keep our promises as per the policy mandate and we have never faltered. Beneficiaries received full value of their policy terms. We have buttressed our business through new business write-ups and maintained our costs at manageable levels. We did not record any policy lapses directly linked to the pandemic. Our members clearly understand the huge benefits of a policy in a hyper-inflationary environment as cash services would hurt their pockets heavily. They understand that funeral costs are better insured than funding the cost from their pockets. In fact we experienced an influx as many policyholders sought to maintain an arrears free position given the likelihood of bereavement in the COVID-19 era. ND:  Did you lose any key staffers during the peak of COVID-19? PM: Our structures never experienced any key losses. ND: How were you coping with burials during the peak period, was the staff enough to meet the high demands? PM: When we envisaged that the figures would increase exponentially, we embarked on resourcing all parlours to full complement including introduction of roasters of our back-up teams. Yes, glitches were experienced from time-to-time given pressure on our parlours, but as a company we were quite responsive in proactively capacitating our centres through increased handling facilities. ND: How did you go through it? PM: We function as a family whose team approach cuts across the