COVID-19 has had an indelible effect on most aspects of our day-to-day lives, and now funeral directors say the pandemic is affecting the way we deal with our dead.
However as technological interaction continues to trump real-life interaction, Mr Baggs predicts a gradual extinction of the traditional coffin-centred funeral gathering and ceremony in favour of the "some kind of memorial service at a later date".
He said funeral directing was now less about organising flowers and obituary notices than being a media tech — coordinating audio and visual productions with catering, memorial photo booklets, slide shows and live music. "Technologies and rituals emerging from COVID-19 point to new directions in Australian death culture and commercial activity that are particularly deserving of further attention," chief executive Dale Gilson said.
"Now, 50 per cent of the time the main members of the family, even the husband or wife of the person who died, feels moved to get up and talk at the service and tell us all what the person they loved meant to them.AFDA executive director Lucinda Cate agreed, saying funerals were becoming less religious and more spiritual rather than formal and structured.
"We've had services at beaches, on blocks of land in the bush — fortunately no-one's asked us to don a wetsuit or jump out of an aeroplane to conduct a funeral yet," Mr Baggs said.There are also endless options for cane caskets, eco caskets and the opportunity for coffins to be painted and decorated with everything from roses and fluffy white clouds to football colours and hotted-up vintage cars.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Long lockdowns a ‘failure of policy’, says WHO envoy on COVIDDavid Nabarro, the World Health Organisation’s special envoy on the pandemic, says he didn’t support the COVID-zero approach.
Read more »
‘Unethical’ for GPs to charge to prescribe Covid antivirals, Australian charity saysCouncil on the Ageing says doctors who charge consultation fee for prescription for older people should be called out
Read more »
‘Most have thrown their hands up’: has the US forgotten about Covid?As Americans go about their daily lives, severely affected Covid patients are wondering if others are moving too quickly from the worst days of the pandemic
Read more »
Study finds long Covid risk extends two years after infectionGetting sick from COVID-19 is bad enough. What if you&x27;re one of the unlucky people who experience what is called long Covid?
Read more »
Covid linked to longer-term elevated risk of brain fog and dementiaStudy finds that unlike anxiety and depression, conditions including brain fog, dementia and psychosis, are still more likely two years on
Read more »
Long lockdowns a ‘failure of policy’, says WHO envoy on COVIDA leading figure in the international response to the pandemic has described repeated use of lockdowns during the first two years of the COVID crisis as a failure of narrative and policy. | EXCLUSIVE by Chip Le Grand
Read more »