FUNERAL HOMES will meet very soon to discuss changes in protocols for covid19 burials, as well as formulating a list of funeral agencies that will be able to store the bodies of those who have died of covid19.
At the beginning of the pandemic it was mandated that all covid19 patients' bodies should be cremated, but that policy changed.
But now, with the increase in cases and deaths, funeral homes are considering reverting strictly to cremation.
Sunday Newsday spoke with president of the Association of Funeral Professionals of TT Keith Belgrove, who said his association will meet to discuss the changes.
"We will be reviewing the list and the criteria to be on the list. One of the main criteria will be being a member of the association."
Belgrove said his association is working with a committee appointed by the Ministry of Health to address the proper way to dispose of the bodies given the change from cremation only to include burial. He said burials have always been allowed to take place in Tobago because it lacks a cremation site.
Muslims in Trinidad are also given an exemption but are being buried only at one cemetery, in east Trinidad.
He added that at the beginning of the pandemic, his association, in collaboration with the Health Ministry, compiled a list of funeral homes to handle covid19 deaths, including storing the bodies. This initial list, he said, was now reduced to a few, with one funeral home predominantly storing the bodies.
Sunday Newsday was told that Belgrove’s, Simpson’s, Dass, Armstrong’s, Clark and Battoo, Boodoo’s, Shyam’s and Allen's Funeral Home, were listed as the authorised agencies to store and dispose of covid19 patients' bodies.
Belgrove, who did not identify the initial list, said some of those on it deviated from the cremation-only rule and the list was changed and eventually morphed into the shorter one above.
Relatives of those who have died from complications associated with covid19 can choose any funeral agency they want, but only selected funeral agencies can remove the bodies from where they died.
Another funeral director, who did not want himself or his company identified, said the list shrank because of a failure to pay other agencies.
He corroborated Belgrove’s claim, saying “the main man right now” has a funeral parlour in East Trinidad and is the only agency being called to collect covid19 bodies. Families are not obligated, however, to use his service for burials and cremation.
The list, the funeral director said, is the second after other agencies began removing covid19 patients' bodies. The increase in funeral agencies vying for the bodies created accounting problems within the various regional health authorities, he said, as there was no contractual agreement with any of the agencies.
To fix this, the association is hoping to prepare a list of acceptable agencies to remove and store the bodies.
The Health Ministry's most recent guidelines said all funeral homes that deal with covid19 must have the required PPE (personal protective equipmen
