I received the following information off Walsall Council about amendments to Bereavement Services

You will already be aware that the Government has started to lessen the stringent limits which were placed on people and businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of the legislative changes, detailed in the Coronavirus Act 2020, and the guidance which was issued by the Government, the Council brought in a series of restrictions across Bereavement Services.

These restrictions were correct at the time, and have worked well, but now that the Government has eased lockdown measures, the restrictions have been reviewed.

I can confirm the following restrictions have now been amended, and will be in place from Monday 1^st June 2020:

• Attendance at funerals 

Government guidance regarding who should attend a funeral has not been changed. Therefore we ask that attendees are still limited to members of the deceased’s household and close family members.

• Streetly Crematorium

Social distancing must be observed by all attendees. To encourage this we have marked out ‘safe’ seats in each chapel at Streetly Crematorium. There are 10 seats in the East Chapel and 15 seats in the West Chapel.

In addition to this a maximum of 15 additional attendees can stand outside the chapel and listen to the service.

• Council cemeteries

A maximum of 30 attendees will be allowed to attend a burial. The attendees must observe social distancing and should be careful not to stand on other graves.

Rituals

• Family bearers and Family backfilling of graves

These rituals are still not permitted as the risk of virus transmission between family members, officiants, funeral directors staff and our own staff remains high.

• Open coffins

This ritual cannot be accommodated at present due to the risk of family members touching the deceased. This would increase the risk of virus transmission between family members, officiants, funeral directors staff and our own staff remains high.

• Witness charging of the coffin into the cremator

This ritual cannot be accommodated at present due to the raised numbers of cremations taking place.

• Coffinless burials

The Council remains concerned that wrapping a body in a shroud or other cloth wrapping prior to burial, but not also placing it in a coffin, would be insufficient to prevent infected body fluid from leaking into the wrappings around the body. Anyone touching such infected wrappings would be at risk of picking up the virus.

The Council believes that the use of body bags could be sufficient to contain the Covid-19 virus. It would thus be prepared to consider burials where the body of the deceased was contained within a body bag. If a request were to be made for the burial of a body contained in a body bag the council would give that careful consideration. Safe procedures to be used throughout the course of the funeral would have to be agreed.

The restriction on coffinless burials will remain in place until such time that academically respected research shows the COVID-19 virus will not spread from a body wrapped in a shroud or other cloth wrapping even when moved during a funeral or the burial.

Access

Non-essential work in cemeteries can begin again, e.g. the installation of memorials. A new process is being introduced and this will be shared with memorial masons directly.

We remain committed to ensuring that the deceased and their family / friends are treated with compassion, dignity and respect.

Our absolute priority is to minimise the potential for the transmission of coronavirus. Our restrictions reflect this and, in some cases, minimising risk must take priority over the wishes of the deceased’s family and / or friends.

Restrictions which have been reviewed but the following remain in place at this time:

• Receptions, waiting rooms and the Book of Remembrance room will remain closed.
• Toilets and washrooms will remain open.

• It is the responsibility of each family to determine who will attend the funeral.
• Anyone who has, or shows symptoms of, Covid-19 or who has underlying health conditions (or lives with someone with any of the same) should not attend a funeral.
• Social distancing protocols must be adhered to at all times.
• Families must not touch the coffin at our premises, including for family bearing, – rather they should ‘blow a kiss’ or wave.
• It is the funeral directors responsibility to monitor, advise and guide anyone attending their funeral whether the attendees are in the chapel or standing outside.
• It is the responsibility of funeral directors to ensure appropriate working practices with their clients / mourners at the funeral.
• Walsall will provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for its employees and will adopt appropriate measures to sanitise chapels, toilets, etc.
• Funeral attendees are welcome to film the service and make this available through media platforms as long as prior permission has been sought from the officiant and cemetery / crematorium staff.
• Funeral services must not take any more than 30 minutes so that there is sufficient time to clean the area between services.

I hope that this is helpful and will give you and your local residents reassurance that we are trying to do all we can to deliver our services in as fair a way as is possible in these difficult times.