Funeral homes and crematoriums in China are struggling to keep up with demand amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that Beijing claims is under control, The Washington Post reported.
Although the Chinese government officially states that less than 40 people have died in the country due to COVID-19 since Dec. 7, when Beijing ended its restrictions aimed at stamping out the virus, satellite images obtained by the Post show a dramatic increase in activity at crematoriums and funeral homes across the country.
The images, taken by Maxar Technologies, show an increase in funeral home activity in six cities in different regions of China, including Beijing in the north, Chengu in the southwest, and Nanjing in the east.
A funeral home located on the outskirts of Beijing apparently built an additional parking lot last month as demand increased, and by the end of the month over 100 vehicles were seen parked there. The Beijing Youth Daily, in a report that has since been removed, said the same funeral home was cremating up to 150 bodies per day compared to 40 before the COVID-19 spike.
Chinese users on Douyin, the country's TikTok equivalent, shared numerous videos of crowded facilities, including some showing crowds that formed outside funeral homes due to long lines in which some people were waiting for up to five hours.
"I have never seen such a long line outside Baoxing," a funeral parlor in Shanghai, said Huwy-min Lucia Liu, an anthropology professor at George Mason University who has studied the city's funeral industry. "Having spent 18 months in various Shanghai funeral parlors, this long line is definitely unusual."
She added: "People waiting outside the funeral parlor at night would not be there to attend a funeral as guests. They might be bereaved families or funeral brokers there representing bereaved families who are waiting to get in first thing in the morning to make arrangements for memorial services and cremation. Normally, that would not require lining up, let alone doing so at night."
A receptionist at Jiangnan Funeral Home in Chongqing, a city in southwest China, told the Post, "I have worked here for six years and it has never been this busy."
The receptionist, who did not give her name, noted that all eight of the company's crematoriums are in constant use and that freezers are full.
"The phone has basically not stopped ringing," she added.
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