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Funerals are the act of commemorating the dead, usually through a ritual or festival of some sort. Most funerals are religious and/or cultural in nature, and as described by the book: "Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions", "often  are  complex  interplays  of  the  sacred  and  secular... Both  of  these  types  of  ritualized  events  are  celebrated  by  both  the  religious  and  the  non-religious  and  by  members  of  many  different  faiths,  and  can  be  either  completely  or  mostly sacred, or entirely secular."(6) (Martha Sims & Martine Stephens, Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions, 2005) pg 118-119. Before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, most funerals were held in person with family members and those close to the deceased individual participating in the funeral. The pandemic has changed this, as large gatherings were prohibited to protect individuals from the risk of getting Covid. This will be focusing on how funerals have changed their operations to better protect individuals and how to carry out the religious practices safely, and to connect individuals when in-person connections were restricted.. The World Health Organization released a report on April 7, 2020 listing ways that religious leaders and organizations could best help reduce the spread of Covid, and suggestions for how to implement these into religious rituals such as funerals. Some of the suggestions were to try and keep gatherings virtual, limit contact between individuals, keep participants at least 3 feet from each other, providing personal protection equipment if touching the disease is required, and many other procedures.

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Christian Funerals:

Christian funerals were usually held within a church, and usually contained the family of the deceased individual, and close members of the family who were invited. There are many different ways funerals can be operated depending on the branch of the individual and the family, but according to the website BetterPlaceForests,  the body is usually displayed in a casket so the family may see them one last time before they are cremated or buried. Prayers and sermons are usually said before the burial/cremation. Members are expected to dress formally for the occasion, and the event is usually sad and full of mourning for the passing of the individual (2).

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With the start of the pandemic, churches could no longer hold in-person events, and had to find an alternative to having an in-person funeral. Most churches started to hold funerals online, with usually only immediate family partaking in-person when Covid restrictions were lowered. The family usually was tested for symptoms of Covid and had protective equipment to reduce the spread during the funeral. A peer-review article from December 2020 stated: "Death services must ensure staff who are in direct contact with the deceased have proper Personal Protective Equipment and companies must adhere to regulations regarding group gatherings, screening for symptoms and physical distancing. Some individuals expressed having a positive experience, stating that the virtual service felt more intimate, while others expressed difficulty in navigating the technology, particularly the older adult attendees." (5) (Ivy Muturi, Shannon Freeman & Davina Banner-Lukaris, December 16, 2020, "Virtual Funerals During Covid-19 and Beyond", Innovation in aging, supplement 4.) pg 966. Most individuals reported have a positive experience with online funerals, with only slight confusion for how to operate the software and such.

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Islamic Funerals:

Christianity was not the only religion to have to adapt to the ongoing pandemic, as many other religions around the world also faced struggles with how to hold funerals. Islamic funerals have a different ritual that undergoes after one passes away. An article released online by Spectrum News summarized this ritual as such: "Traditionally, Islamic traditions include four components when laying a person to rest. The deceased is given a ceremonial bath, then they are wrapped in a shroud. Afterwards, a formal last rites prayer is given and a burial is held for the dead." (Hannah Poukish & Alex Cohen, April 26, 2021, "How Islamic burial tra­di­tions have been impacted by COVID-19"). Such as Christian funerals, in-person funerals were prohibited besides only directly family, and the same precautions were in place (mask wearing, 6-feet apart, etc...). One problem arose with this ritual, as the washing of the body is usually performed by the family and an expert or religious leader, and the family would traditionally lower the body into the grave themselves. One of the recommendations the World Health Organization made in April 2020 to combat the problem with washings was to give proper protective equipment's to individuals participating in the washing of the body, such as gloves and goggles if possible contact with bodily fluids from the deceased may occur. The Spectrum News article also states that families would often lower the body into the grave, facing towards Mecca, but states that the bodies are now mechanically lowered into the grave for safety of the family. A peer reviewed article titled "Funeral Processes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perceptions Among Islamic Religious Leaders in Indonesia" states how the problem of giving prayers during the funerals were solved: "The prayer is applied immediately to the deceased after being covered, according to sunnah. This practice is performed in a safe place by at least one person to avoid further viral spread. In the absence of these conditions, the corpse is prayed for before or after burial, and where this is impossible, a recitation from afar, called Ghaib prayer, is observed." (Nurhayati Nurhayati & Tri Bayu Purnama, September 1, 2021). There are many precautions being taken to make sure all measures are met and individuals are protected at all times.

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Other Funeral Ritual Impacts:

Other funeral rituals that were impacted by Covid were the Māori and Samoan. A peer review article titled "Digital innovation and funeral practices: Māori and Samoan perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic" dives into depth about how their funeral rituals changed during the pandemic. The article states that these rituals are usually focused on relationships with the family and the community, so these rituals were hit hard by the start of the pandemic. There were multiple times throughout the pandemic where these rituals were not allowed to take place due to high risks of Covid spread in the area, so these rituals were turned online during these times of limited contact. The article states: " In Māori cultural tradition, physical presence... is critical to relationships in Māori society and is even more important at tangihanga. Indeed, the physical presence of whānau is part of the healing process." (Dion Enari & Byron William Rangiwai, May 15, 2021). They also state that for the Samoans, the prepping of the body and process of the burial is important, and the funerals are usually places where Christian hymns, prayers, and fine mats are exchanged. With tight in-person gathering restrictions in Australia at the time, the funerals were held online, where the family would record certain parts for the participants so they could participate so public mourning and support could still be carried out.

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Switch to Normality:

With the risk of Covid spread lowered, and accessibility to vaccines increasing, most lockdowns have been lifted, and most things are returning to normal. Some funerals are being held in-person again, which is important for certain cultural and religious funeral rituals, such as the Samoans where a persons presence plays major importance in showing respect and compassion to the family and community who lost someone. An article from the North Carolina Health News, titled "Religious burial rituals slowly resuming after shift forced by pandemic", claims more funerals are starting to be held in-person again, and is more impactful for certain groups, such as Muslims and Jews who faced many struggles with how to carry out certain aspects of the funeral. The site states: "Members of the Muslim and Jewish communities made urgent queries to religious scholars... There were questions about washing, shrouding and burying the bodies of people who had died of COVID. Many families could not attend last rituals for their own families amid the uncertainty. Some participated from afar over Skype or Zoom." (Nadia Bokhari, November 29, 2021). While most funerals may return to in-person, there is a chance virtual funerals may also be available in the future for those who cannot make it to one, especially in communities like the Samoan, where members will travel from different countries to come back home for a funeral.