In these extremely stressful times, families are facing a situation where they cannot grieve for their departed loved ones. The nature of the pandemic demands cremation or burial but with extremely few people present. The dead are given a hasty farewell, families are sometimes in quarantine and there is little opportunity or time to grieve or even process the grief. That much-needed comfort cushion for some, an outreach like condolence visits by friends and extended family, is out of the question.

One can surely accept all that since COVID-19 has necessitated this distancing and curtailing numbers even in death. What is unacceptable though, is the number of cases where bodies are not found, already cremated with the family absent, or, relatives made to sprint between medical facilities or hours spent at the morgue.