Tragedy during pandemic: Burying and saying goodbye to loved ones

The virus from Wuhan has brought lonely deaths for more than a million people without the solace of a final goodbye for loved ones.

11 miles from Manhattan lies the largest mass grave in the United States in Hart island. It is the final resting place for unclaimed dead bodies in New York. The island made international headlines in April when the city announced that unclaimed victims of the Wuhan virus will be buried by the end of October more than 2,000 New Yorkers were buried on Hart island more than double the numbers from last year.

It's dreary business, there is no funeral service with workers in Hazmat outfits just bury the dead which is a cruel gift of the pandemic. The Wuhan virus has made grieving the loss of a loved one harder with mass gatherings restricted in several parts of the globe as many end up grieving alone.

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In June, families in Brazil had only 10 minutes to say goodbye to their loved ones. Brazil has the world's second-largest death toll in this pandemic as of July strict guidelines were in place for funerals with social gatherings banned.

open casket viewings were not allowed. In May, a cemetery in Sao Paulo was burying 60 bodies in a day with families being given barely a few minutes to bid their loved ones goodbye.

The Wuhan virus has infected burials and funerals too. In Egypt, families were stopped from carrying out the Islamic custom of bathing the body before the burial.

In Mexico wakes were denied to the deceased and in India, large gatherings have been banned. Many don't even get the solace of a final farewell. In Israel, some hospitals have built a glass booth for families to get a last glimpse of the deceased despite restrictions people have found new ways to show solidarity.

Earlier this year in Ireland, Catholic parishioners lined up their cars on a road towards a cemetery when an elderly resident died in Kerry. The vehicles stood seven feet apart and the parishioners paid their last respects from their cars.

It has been almost a year since the pandemic began and hospitals still remain inundated with patients as the death toll continues to rise with the virus showing no signs of slowing down.