LAWRENCE, Mass. — Lawrence is one of the hardest hit areas by this pandemic. Sadly, funeral homes in Lawrence, and across the state have been overwhelmed.
“We are constantly sanitizing," said Michael Perez, the director for Perez Funeral home in Lawrence. "As you can see, there is very limited seating right now. Only 10 people are allowed in at a time.”
Perez, along with so many families across the state, are grieving after losing a loved one to COVID-19.
For many families, they haven’t been able to have a proper funeral or burial as there is a backlog for weeks.
I called around to funeral homes across Massachussets. Funeral directors tell me, they have a backlog and are trying the best they can to accomodate families. 1 funeral director in Lawrence says "I had funeral homes in NYC reaching out to me asking for help". @boston25
— Malini Basu (@WFXTMalini) May 14, 2020
“As for deaths, it’s the worst thing you can go through right now," said Perez. “It’s also financially, most people are out of work.”
For Perez, he drove down to the hard hit Bronx to make sure his 88-year old-grandmother Rosa Caraballo Gonzalez had a proper burial.
“I had to make arrangements to bring her up here because the backlog,” said Perez.
A #Lawrence funeral home director says, he lost his grandmother to COVID-19. Funeral homes in hard hit Bronx,NY are backlogged for weeks. Michael Perez, the funeral home director and his family drove to NY. The 88 y/o was buried in MA. NYC funeral homes have been asking for help. pic.twitter.com/XaNRq0BT1N
— Malini Basu (@WFXTMalini) May 14, 2020
The backlog of COVID 19 burials is impacting our area especially hard.
“We remain one of the hardest hit states in the country,” said Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.
For hard hit Lawrence, more than 27,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and at least 100 people have died.
“It’s at least 3 times busier for us," said Baker. “We never imagined to be in a position to be in a pandemic.”
Perez says calls are coming in from across the state.
“I have five to 10 files in front of me at all times, we get rid of the decedents and bury them, cremate them, as soon as we are done, we get two more in” said Perez.
Perez, like many funeral home directors, says they are doing the best they can to accommodate grieving families. As we’ve reported, most of the deaths from the coronavirus in Mass. are people who lived at nursing homes.
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