The City of Cape Town is calling on residents to adhere to COVID-19 funeral regulations, after some community members disregard the limit of 50 mourners attending burials.
The Western Cape is the hardest-hit province, with the highest number of infections and deaths.
As of Wednesday, the province had 55 162 cases and 1 599 fatalities.
The cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country is now sitting at 111 796, while the death toll is 2 205.
Meanwhile, the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has warned about the spike in COVID-19 cases.
The City of Cape Town said non-adherence to the limit on the number of funeral attendees and time limits on graveside services have been identified as key challenges that need urgent resolution.
There have been numerous instances where the regulation limiting the number of people allowed to attend a funeral is not being adhered to.
“There have been numerous instances of transmission surges arising from funeral services, so the size of the gathering and the ability to maintain social distancing is important in that sense. The timing of funeral services is also an issue,” the city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Zahid Badroodien said.
Badroodien said there were cases where funeral processions arrive late at the burial site, which causes delays and impacts on the number of burials that can be accommodated on that day.
“Given the number of fatalities as a result of COVID-19, and the increasing demand on our cemeteries, we ask that the public please respect the regulations and stick to their allotted times and number of attendees, to minimise the risk of transmission, and also to ensure due consideration for others who have to use the cemeteries,” said Badroodien.
Badroodien said much needs to be done to ensure a more even spread of burials throughout the week for the city to continue providing dignified burial opportunities for all.
“The city would like to advise the public that burial times may be allocated by booking offices, as per the regulatory guidelines of a COVID-19 deceased, needing to be buried within three days after death and a non-COVID deceased being buried or cremated within 10 days of the death.”
The city said this recommendation is intended to avoid bottlenecks and assist mortuaries in releasing bodies as soon as possible.
According to the city’s data, Saturday remains the preferred day for burials, followed by Friday and Wednesday.
“The statistics reflect that there is an increase in burials during the week and this is encouraging because it means that more people are heeding our call for weekday burials.
“Every little bit helps, and it is extremely important to reduce the pressure on our cemeteries brought about by Saturday burials. We understand that weekday burial are not the norm, but we are operating under very different circumstances and so we have to find new ways of doing things to ensure that we can offer everyone an opportunity to lay their loved ones to rest,” said Badroodien.
The city has since thanked the families and undertakers, who have responded to the call.
Cape Town said they have enough burial sites and are working hard to ensure that the burial demand spreads across the week, without it being limited to a single day.
“The city’s crematoria can handle up to 36 cremations per day, if fully operational. Burial capacity is dependent more on transport and storage constraints, but the necessary expansions to available cemetery space have been undertaken to ensure that there is additional sufficient capacity for COVID-19 burials, in addition to normal figures,” said Badroodien. – SAnews.gov.za
