TEXARKANA, Ark. - As a result of the coronavirus outbreak, some Texarkana area funeral homes have begun limiting their services and the number of people who may attend them.
Most funeral homes in the region contacted Tuesday are taking a wait-and-see stance regarding the epidemic, while others are suggesting limits and leaving the decision to grieving families. A few have chosen measures such as restricting services to family members only and eliminating visitations.
The owners of one group of funeral homes in the region have decided to stop visitations but will continue to provide funeral services for families who want them. The group - Texarkana Funeral Homes on both the Arkansas side and the Texas side; Chapelwood Funeral Home in Nash, Texas; Bates-Rolf Funeral Home in New Boston, Texas; DeKalb Funeral Home in DeKalb, Texas; and Herndon-Fuqua Funeral Homes in Gurdon, Hope and Prescott, Arkansas - will begin a trial of live-streaming services via internet next week.
"It is important to acknowledge the passing of a loved one, as you cannot press pause on grief. We encourage the sick and elderly to stay home. There are many ways to show support that do not require attendance at a funeral," owner Vickers Fuqua said in a statement.
Davis-Smith Funeral Homes in Glenwood and Hot Springs, Arkansas, have gone a step further, limiting services to the deceased's immediate family and their spouses.
"It was a tough decision," said veteran Davis-Smith funeral director Tony Smith. "We are conceding to what the Centers for Disease Control thinks the American public needs, so we're doing that just to do our part. I know it's going to cause hardship for the families we serve. It's going to cause a financial hardship for us. But it's just something that needed to be done, I believe." Families have been understanding so far, he said.
The CDC's latest recommendation is to avoid gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks. On Monday, President Donald Trump advised avoiding groups of more than 10 but stopped short of mandating that restriction.
Several area funeral directors said they are recommending lower numbers of people at funerals and encouraging graveside services outdoors to allow attendees more personal space.
The epidemic has not yet affected Queen City Funeral Home in Queen City, Texas, but funeral director and co-owner Mike Lee is beginning to take precautions.
"We're going to try to keep the funerals smaller if we can during this crisis," Lee said, adding that he is willing to "work around any issues" and take personal risk to provide whatever services his clients want.
"You only get to bury someone once, and if that means I get coronavirus in doing that, then OK, I guess that's going to have to happen," Lee said.
Other funeral homes are waiting for the situation to worsen or for a government order limiting gatherings before they take action. Many said they were not yet concerned about the consequences of a potential local outbreak.
"I guess we're kind of in the smaller part of the world where nothing like that's happened yet, thank goodness. When it does, we'll take what action we need to take," said Scott Carter, manager of Hanner Funeral Service in Atlanta, Texas.
Mourners can be especially prone to spreading the virus by touching one another, said Chad Gallagher, a spokesman for the Arkansas Funeral Directors Association.
"Funerals and visitations are a time that people are emotional, and they do touch, and they're in very close proximity and contact with each other," he said.
The association has recommended guidelines to its member funeral homes.
"Essentially, we are encouraging all our funeral homes in the state at this time to hold the smallest of services possible to try to slow the spread of the epidemic, limiting visitations and funerals to the most immediate of family, and then working with the family to schedule larger memorials in the future," Gallagher said.
That strategy is in line with the recommendations of the National Funeral Directors Association.
The CDC has "suggested limiting attendance to select family and live-streaming the service for those who cannot attend; services could also be recorded and the video shared with whomever the family deems appropriate. They further advised that those who are ill and are at-risk (e.g., elderly, immune-compromised) should be encouraged to stay home. Funeral homes should also urge attendees to follow recommended healthy habits such as social distancing, hand hygiene, covering cough and sneezes, etc.," the NFDA website states.
At least one area funeral director sees the situation as unprecedented.
"I've been doing this for almost 40 years, and I've weathered different pandemics and epidemics like HIV," Smith said. "But I've never, ever seen anything quite like this."