This archive report was first published on 26 April 2020.
Italy is grappling with the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed over 26,000 lives since February. As the country cautiously approaches the moment when it is ready to lift some of its harshest restrictions on everyday life, the pandemic has altered funeral traditions in the country.
Revello, a tiny Italian town on the French border, has seen a significant shift in its funeral customs. The tradition of families passing by open caskets to say silent farewells to the deceased at churches or at funeral parlours has been abandoned.
Giampiero Palmero, owner of a funeral home in Revello, supervises his employees as they prepare the coffin of a COVID-19 victim before a funeral service in northern Italy with very limited family contact. The real toll of the pandemic is unknown since many of those who pass away in old age are never tested for the virus.
Palmero takes it personally, saying, "We really are living in abnormal times. There is more demand for our services." Italy is cautiously approaching the moment when it is ready to lift some of its harshest restrictions on everyday life, with people possibly allowed to walk the streets freely starting on May 4.
However, Italy is not there yet, and Palmero still collects his bodies at the hospital in nearby Saluzzo. "The bodies are already wrapped in a shroud," he explains. "We put the body in the coffin and seal it immediately." Social distancing measures are even observed at the crematorium, with only one person allowed inside at a time.
Not catching or spreading the virus is the overriding consideration in Palmero's business. "There are no more real funerals," he laments.
