One of the UK’s first coronavirus victims will be laid to rest this week with just a handful of family members present.
Only four to five people will attend the elderly man’s funeral to reduce the risk of any further infections, after he passed away last weekend.
The ceremony, which is being organised by undertakers W. Uden and Sons, will take place in Greenwich in south east London.
The man’s heartbroken family were able to say goodbye at the hospital but have been unable to see him again.
Funeral director Matthew Uden says funerals have become increasingly difficult to organise amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's much more difficult to organise with all that's going on. We have been advised to be very cautious,” the 30-year-old said.
"The person we collected yesterday was in a body bag beforehand and we were wearing masks and protective suits to bring them back to the morgue.
"There's only going to be four or five very close immediate family members at the very small funeral. They are absolutely fine with that and decided it between themselves before they contacted us.
"The loss of a loved one is never easy and putting restrictions upon a family that is already grieving is not something that we want to do.
"They have coped really well and it is nice to see that this family has understood the unprecedented situation they and everyone else finds themselves in.”
Ministers have warned that individual funerals may not be possible if the number of coronavirus deaths is at the “top end of the reasonable worst case scenario”.
The number of people to have died as a result of the flu-like virus in the UK has now reached 104.
Uden’s family business has already restricted services to close family and friends in light of government guidelines banning gatherings of more than 100 people.
Mourners who can't attend the send off will be able to watch it via a livestream.
Matthew, who has worked at the family business for 20 years added that he has “never seen anything like this”.
The business has had numerous phone calls in recent days from families unsure if funerals can go ahead.
"They are in a really tricky situation. Even the experts don't really know what the right procedure is. I've never seen anything like this in my time as a funeral director,” he continued.
"We are making sure we are doing all we can and visually show that to reassure the public.
“Everything is regularly cleaned and we've got anti-bacterial wipes in all the offices and cars.
“We need to have extra measures to keep our staff safe and protect the families that we are caring for.
"People do not stop dying and we need to keep helping our community.”
