As hundreds of Floridians are dying a day from Covid-19, Florida funerals home are struggling to keep up with the onslaught of bodies.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the seven-day average in daily deaths for August was 244, which is an all-time high in the pandemic. This sudden spike is likely because of the spread of the more contagious delta variant.
While working in a funeral home is tough even in normal times, staff across Florida have been working nonstop during the latest Covid-19 surge.
In Tampa, Florida, a funeral director told8 On Your Side that there’s not enough time to bury everyone who has died from Covid-19 and funeral services are booked for the next few weeks.
Beyond packed funeral services for weeks on end, another funeral home in Winter Garden, Florida, said they’re so busy that bodies are stacked up to the ceiling.
Richard Prindiville, director of Highland Funeral Home in Apopka, Florida, toldCBS that he hasn’t been this busy in his decades-long career.
"What makes it difficult for us nowadays is just explaining to family members that we cannot have — and we’ll have to hold off having — a funeral," Prindiville said. "In an hour, I could have six death calls and I’m back to figuring out how to piece stuff together."
Nearly 46,000 people have died from Covid-19 in Florida and over 50 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.
Amid the record-setting Covid-19 death rates, the governor, Ron DeSantis, is embroiled in a heated conflict of whether schools can issue mask mandates.
Mr DeSantis just appeals a judge’s ruling saying that the state cannot order school boards to not issue mask mandates.
