LAUSR

Faced to COVID-19, the earliest public health recommendations in France [1] forbade washing of the body and mandated inhumation and cremation within 24 h, recommendations similar to those when case-patients were, more likely than non case-patients, to have participated in funeral rituals. When a patient is hospitalized for SARSCoV-2, family and friends were not allowed to be with him or her, and the farewells were done as the patient got into the ambulance. The grieving process, however, implies three phases [2]: viewing of the body, performing a collective ceremony to support those affected, and finally accepting the person’s death. The public health measures were difficult to accept, leading to an incapacity of families to grieve their loved ones. Based on evidence that the virus appears to be transmitted primarily through large droplets -even if other potential modes of transmission [3] are not excludedand that contamination is more related to the living than to the dead, new recommendations were formulated [4]. Following the usual washing and preparation of the body, several close relatives can now view the face of the body, but there is no obligation of quick inhumation or cremation. This latest measure is leading to the creation of temporary morgues (refrigerated trucks, ice rinks. . .) where bodies are awaiting treatment. They are in the public mind contemporary versions of medieval mass graves [2]. However, the recommendations between countries, apart from any religious considerations, very different, as is what is done on a daily basis. Thus, while some allow embalming [5] there are also mass burials which contributes to people's anxiety. In case of an epidemic, to limit contagion while allowing families to grieve and preserving the dignity of the deceased, we recommend