Grief-stricken families & funeral homes impacted by coronavirus pandemic

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- With gatherings being limited because of the coronavirus pandemic, funeral homes have to adjust.

It’s also impacting grieving families in ways they never anticipated.

John Maher, director of Brett Funeral Home says those in the industry are typically very accommodating to families in mourning, however, things are different now due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Because of Gov. Tony Evers' restrictions, they’re limited to gatherings of no more than 10 people for funeral services.

That leaves grieving families with the option of having a small ceremony for immediate members, or postponing.

Maher says they have to comply with the limitations because they don’t want to make a difficult situation worse by potentially spreading the virus.

“They want to have closure, they want to have a large funeral, they might have a very large family, with many, many friends, and this is what they’ve had in mind to mourn the death or celebrate the life,” Maher said. “But now in this day in age, that’s something they’re gonna have to think about and we simply cannot do.”

Maher adds many in the industry are also concerned funeral homes will soon be overwhelmed because of the virus.