More funerals in Serbia, they're held on Sundays as well: Waiting time 5 days, day in morgue 1,600

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The number of deaths has increased throughout Serbia, and funerals are often held on Sundays as well. The situation is the same in the capital. JKP Pogrebne Usluge Beograd (public company Funeral Services Belgrade) is responsible for the ten largest city cemeteries, and since October 3, funerals are organized on Sundays.

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"We, like all other parts of society, are fighting this pandemic and we are trying to achieve everything with good organization. Since the beginning of October, we have had 65 funerals a day, and before the pandemic the average was from 35 to 40. Since October 3, we started organizing funerals on Sundays as well. When things are like they are now, we shorten the time between funerals," the company's representative Marina Racic told K1 TV's Uranak program.

"The average waiting time for organizing a funeral in larger cemeteries such as Novo Bezanija is five days, and the price of keeping the body in the morgue per day is 1,600 dinars."

As Racic told K1, according to the Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, with all such diseases, not only coronavirus, the deceased are placed in plastic bags, according to the rules.

"The hearses are disinfected, and our workers who take over the bodies also wear special equipment. The Nova Bezanija Cemetery is the busiest and extensions of city cemeteries are needed. According to a decision of the City of Belgrade from 2020 the plan is to build four new cemeteries, namely Lesce 2, Bezanija 2, Batajnica and Kaludjerica. All these cemeteries are currently in the design phase," Marina Racic said on Uranak.

K1 reporters learned that the number of funerals in Kragujevac in October increased by more than 100 percent compared to October last year and in 2019. In 2019 there were 70 funerals in October, in 2020 the number was 68, while this October as many as 152 people were laid to rest.

The data for Sabac shows that by October 31 this year, as many funerals were held as during the whole of last year, and those funerals are also organized on weekends. According to the funeral company in this city, those who died from Covid are brought in bags, and those account for about 60 percent.

There have been 70 percent more funerals in Novi Pazar this year compared to 2019. The average number in that city is 50 per month, while this October it was 84.

(Telegraf.rs)