Hong Kong funeral homes decline make-up, body viewing services for Covid-19 victims over infection fears, prompting some families to forgo ceremonies altogether
- Hong Kong Funeral Business Association chairman Ng Yiu-tong says funeral homes are afraid to offer viewing ceremonies to families
- Body viewings and make-up services are permitted under government guidelines
In a double whammy, Tony Chan*, who lost his mother to the coronavirus last month, has decided to call off her funeral ceremony after a facility declined preparatory services such as make-up application and dressing the dead due to infection fears.
Chan, a religious leader in his sixties, said his funeral agent told him that the body had to be placed in a coffin right after it was received from the hospital. As a result, he has called off a ceremony for friends to gather and view the deceased.
His mother’s funeral was originally set to be held at Universal Funeral Home in Hung Hom in the coming week.
“Since the pandemic is getting worse, we will avoid having crowds gathered at the ceremony by skipping it altogether, and head straight to cremation,” Chan said.
A member of staff at the Universal Funeral in Hung Hom told a Post reporter posing as a client that bodies of those who died of Covid-19 must be covered in the coffin when delivered to the funeral home.
Guests at funerals would be barred from viewing the body, he said.