Funeral homes make adjustments during coronavirus pandemic

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) Even businesses deemed essential have had to change their approach to remain as safe as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At cemeteries once filled with visitors and services, flowers are placed on headstones and minimal traffic is seen.

Social distancing has been affecting even the most somber of times… including funerals.

"We're going forward with the services, but obviously on a 10 or less basis with family only right now, so essentially it's private some family
have opted to just do a private family grave site and do something public later on… when things get better out here," says Bill Laporte with Struve & Laporte Funeral Chapel in Salinas.

Laporte says he and his staff has made changes to their day to day operations.

"What we're doing is we are encouraging social distancing and people that are sick have a fever stay home and take care of yourselves and even the churches and cemeteries are doing that same thing," says Laporte.

For a place that normally sees groups and gatherings funeral homes and cemeteries like this one are trying to navigate a new normal when it comes to remembering family and loved ones who have passed.

Max Tarlton: "What has been the response from families?"
Bill Laporte - "They have been very responsive to understanding of it. Disappointed, but understanding. They're stressed enough as it is and the you pile it with friends not being able to support them like they can. Makes it for a tougher situation."

The big question is what about larger families who want to say their goodbyes?

"We have had people of 20 or more here but they have stayed outside of the building and away from each other and people have come in in groups of three or four, so the most I've seen is about 20… and that's not in the building at one time," says Laporte.

With COVID-19 cases and deaths on the rise, Laporte says his staff is doing all they can to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"Our staff is being updated daily on the care, the hygiene, the universal precautions that we use from a day to day bases prior to the corona 19 virus. So, we're implementing and continue implementing universal precautions."

In other parts of the country, those precautions have led to the livestreaming of funerals, just to make sure everyone can have their final goodbye.