Image Credit: CFJC Today / Jill Sperling

By Jill Sperling

COVID-19

Funerals take new form in era of COVID-19

Mar 24, 2020 | 4:39 PM

KAMLOOPS — With strict limitations on the size of gatherings in this province, as well as recommendations to self-isolate as much as possible, large funerals are no longer happening.

Drake Smith, owner of Drake Cremation and Funeral Services, says families are choosing to postpone celebrations of life at this time or hold a small private ceremony in their own home or backyard.

While this is affecting some families in Kamloops, many had already chosen to keep services small and personal.

“In British Columbia and in Kamloops, about 90 per cent of the people who pass away or who die here are cremated and a lot of those people are not going to have a formal service,” Smith said. “The family’s going to gather, maybe a small group of families to celebrate their lives in a restaurant, or more likely now in their backyard or at home. So, having those large gatherings is becoming more rare.”

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Drake Cremation and Funeral Services is taking extra precautions when removing a deceased person from a building.

The company’s Tranquille Road location is still open, but people are advised to call ahead before coming over and avoid unnecessary visits.

“A lot of people I’m finding now are doing things that maybe could wait until the scare passes, for example people coming to pick up their loved one’s cremated remains,” Smith said. “As much as I understand that it may be important for them to perhaps do it, if they can maybe wait for a week or two that would probably be in their own best interest.”