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| How Do You Maintain Dignity for the Dead in a Pandemic? | How Do You Maintain Dignity for the Dead in a Pandemic? |
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| Nick Farenga stood amid the body bags in a refrigerated 18-wheel trailer at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan. “This is him,” a hospital worker said, pointing to a white body bag among the roughly 40 others lying on wooden platforms that resembled hastily constructed bunk beds. As a funeral director in the Bronx, Farenga has spent two months on the front lines of Covid-19, picking up dozens of bodies. Yet somehow, until that day in late April, he had escaped the pain of retrieving the body of someone he loved. Philip Foglia was Farenga’s former Little League coach. He and his brother, Sal, played baseball with Foglia’s sons; the families lived just blocks apart; their fathers were longtime friends. | Nick Farenga stood amid the body bags in a refrigerated 18-wheel trailer at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan. “This is him,” a hospital worker said, pointing to a white body bag among the roughly 40 others lying on wooden platforms that resembled hastily constructed bunk beds. As a funeral director in the Bronx, Farenga has spent two months on the front lines of Covid-19, picking up dozens of bodies. Yet somehow, until that day in late April, he had escaped the pain of retrieving the body of someone he loved. Philip Foglia was Farenga’s former Little League coach. He and his brother, Sal, played baseball with Foglia’s sons; the families lived just blocks apart; their fathers were longtime friends. |
| In the trailer, Farenga squatted down next to a lower platform. With his gloved hand, he pulled the double zippers down the body bag to Foglia’s waist where his hands were folded. Farenga checked his hospital ID wristband before pulling the zippers up. | In the trailer, Farenga squatted down next to a lower platform. With his gloved hand, he pulled the double zippers down the body bag to Foglia’s waist where his hands were folded. Farenga checked his hospital ID wristband before pulling the zippers up. |
| “Oh, Phil,” he said in a hushed voice when he saw his former coach’s face. For much of his career, Foglia, who was 69, was a lawyer for the city, state and federal governments, investigating and prosecuting public corruption. Farenga knew Foglia had been in the hospital for more than a month, most of that time on a ventilator. Several days earlier, he was transferred out of the I.C.U. But then one infection set him back, and another, until his heart gave out. | “Oh, Phil,” he said in a hushed voice when he saw his former coach’s face. For much of his career, Foglia, who was 69, was a lawyer for the city, state and federal governments, investigating and prosecuting public corruption. Farenga knew Foglia had been in the hospital for more than a month, most of that time on a ventilator. Several days earlier, he was transferred out of the I.C.U. But then one infection set him back, and another, until his heart gave out. |
| In the trailer, Farenga, wearing a N-95 mask and medical gown, wrapped his arms around Foglia and the body bag and hoisted him onto a stretcher to bring him to the funeral home. | In the trailer, Farenga, wearing a N-95 mask and medical gown, wrapped his arms around Foglia and the body bag and hoisted him onto a stretcher to bring him to the funeral home. |
| Since mid-March, about 200 bodies — compared with about 55 in a typical two-month period — have come through the back doors of the Farenga Brothers Funeral Home, a brick building that was once a bakery in the Allerton neighborhood in the Bronx. Farenga, who is 34, owns the business, which includes a smaller funeral home in Yonkers, with his older brother, Sal, 40. The bodies come from nursing homes, apartments and houses and from hospitals’ refrigerated trailers. | Since mid-March, about 200 bodies — compared with about 55 in a typical two-month period — have come through the back doors of the Farenga Brothers Funeral Home, a brick building that was once a bakery in the Allerton neighborhood in the Bronx. Farenga, who is 34, owns the business, which includes a smaller funeral home in Yonkers, with his older brother, Sal, 40. The bodies come from nursing homes, apartments and houses and from hospitals’ refrigerated trailers. |
| NewYork-Presbyterian’s vehicles were organized. Others, especially in the early weeks of the pandemic, unveiled the chaos of mass death. In early April, Sal walked into one trailer with 92 bodies — twice the number he had seen anywhere else — covering the floor and piled three high, some face down. There was no space to move, much less wheel in a stretcher. To find the three bodies he was looking for, Sal had to roll one body off another, again and again. And when he still couldn’t locate the last one, that of an elderly woman whose family called the funeral home a week earlier, the hospital staff pulled 15 corpses out of the trailer. Sal finally found her at the bottom of a pile of three. | NewYork-Presbyterian’s vehicles were organized. Others, especially in the early weeks of the pandemic, unveiled the chaos of mass death. In early April, Sal walked into one trailer with 92 bodies — twice the number he had seen anywhere else — covering the floor and piled three high, some face down. There was no space to move, much less wheel in a stretcher. To find the three bodies he was looking for, Sal had to roll one body off another, again and again. And when he still couldn’t locate the last one, that of an elderly woman whose family called the funeral home a week earlier, the hospital staff pulled 15 corpses out of the trailer. Sal finally found her at the bottom of a pile of three. |
| “There has to be some dignity in this, otherwise I might as well be a garbage man,” Sal told me by phone one evening in late April. | “There has to be some dignity in this, otherwise I might as well be a garbage man,” Sal told me by phone one evening in late April. |
| Death care in New York City was complicated even before the coronavirus pandemic. Real estate is expensive, so funeral homes are often small and lack significant storage capacities. And the state’s funeral laws are some of the strictest in the country, says Tanya Marsh, a professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, who specializes in funeral and cemetery law. Among other regulations is one that requires that only a licensed funeral professional is permitted to drive a body to a grave or crematory. (Gov. Andrew Cuomo has lifted that restriction during the pandemic to allow funeral directors to deputize staff to do so.) | Death care in New York City was complicated even before the coronavirus pandemic. Real estate is expensive, so funeral homes are often small and lack significant storage capacities. And the state’s funeral laws are some of the strictest in the country, says Tanya Marsh, a professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, who specializes in funeral and cemetery law. Among other regulations is one that requires that only a licensed funeral professional is permitted to drive a body to a grave or crematory. (Gov. Andrew Cuomo has lifted that restriction during the pandemic to allow funeral directors to deputize staff to do so.) |
| In the entire New York City metro area, there are only five crematories — the city of Buffalo has six — one of the lowest numbers per capita for any city in the United States, says David Fleming, the legislative director of the New York State Association of Cemeteries. And though the death rate has slowed, New York City crematories are still running around the clock, and the city’s backlog of bodies waiting to be cremated has reached as high as 3,400. Instead of being able to get a burial or cremation slot in a day or two, the Farengas and other New York City funeral directors have had to wait as long as a month for cremations; two weeks for burials. | In the entire New York City metro area, there are only five crematories — the city of Buffalo has six — one of the lowest numbers per capita for any city in the United States, says David Fleming, the legislative director of the New York State Association of Cemeteries. And though the death rate has slowed, New York City crematories are still running around the clock, and the city’s backlog of bodies waiting to be cremated has reached as high as 3,400. Instead of being able to get a burial or cremation slot in a day or two, the Farengas and other New York City funeral directors have had to wait as long as a month for cremations; two weeks for burials. |
| To store bodies until slots were available, Nick and Sal turned two rooms into makeshift morgues: the casket showroom and one of the funeral home’s chapels, which usually seats 40 people. In the chapel, the staff moved out most of the chairs, set the temperature to 55 degrees and turned on the dehumidifier. They now can store 35 bodies at once in the room. Some are embalmed and lying inside a casket, the lids open to prevent mold and to keep the body cool, awaiting an open-casket funeral or viewing. Others are in closed caskets, ready for the cemetery. Bodies lie across stretchers, set on two chairs, zipped in body bags, draped with sheets and blankets, awaiting caskets. Others are in simple pine or cardboard boxes for cremation. Sal says he will store as many as he can during the pandemic, with one caveat: “If I have to put a body on the floor, I’m closing down.” | To store bodies until slots were available, Nick and Sal turned two rooms into makeshift morgues: the casket showroom and one of the funeral home’s chapels, which usually seats 40 people. In the chapel, the staff moved out most of the chairs, set the temperature to 55 degrees and turned on the dehumidifier. They now can store 35 bodies at once in the room. Some are embalmed and lying inside a casket, the lids open to prevent mold and to keep the body cool, awaiting an open-casket funeral or viewing. Others are in closed caskets, ready for the cemetery. Bodies lie across stretchers, set on two chairs, zipped in body bags, draped with sheets and blankets, awaiting caskets. Others are in simple pine or cardboard boxes for cremation. Sal says he will store as many as he can during the pandemic, with one caveat: “If I have to put a body on the floor, I’m closing down.” |
| In mid-April, Nick and Sal received some relief from the overflow when colleagues at a funeral home near Binghamton, N.Y., where the brothers interned after mortuary school, reached out to them. Because that facility didn’t have the wait times of New York City crematories, the staff offered, with families’ permission, to take regular van loads of bodies to their crematory. The first batch of bodies left for the three-hour trip in mid-April. Since then, there were three more trips, for a total of 40 bodies. The Farengas now have room for new arrivals. | In mid-April, Nick and Sal received some relief from the overflow when colleagues at a funeral home near Binghamton, N.Y., where the brothers interned after mortuary school, reached out to them. Because that facility didn’t have the wait times of New York City crematories, the staff offered, with families’ permission, to take regular van loads of bodies to their crematory. The first batch of bodies left for the three-hour trip in mid-April. Since then, there were three more trips, for a total of 40 bodies. The Farengas now have room for new arrivals. |
| Sal is the old soul of the Farenga family, the one who wears his grandfather’s Miraculous Medal around his neck, a Catholic symbol meant to bestow grace on the wearer. (Nick wears his grandfather’s World War II dog tags, which he says have felt grimly relevant now.) Sal is also the family worrier: “An 80-year-old Italian man in a 40-year-old body,” his mother, Rosemarie, says. On a desk in the office that Sal shares with Nick, stacked papers sit next to a pack of Sal’s Marlboros and an array of black neck ties. Nick’s dress shoes lie on the floor, along with Sal’s crumpled pants, hastily taken off after a funeral and before he had to pick up more bodies. | Sal is the old soul of the Farenga family, the one who wears his grandfather’s Miraculous Medal around his neck, a Catholic symbol meant to bestow grace on the wearer. (Nick wears his grandfather’s World War II dog tags, which he says have felt grimly relevant now.) Sal is also the family worrier: “An 80-year-old Italian man in a 40-year-old body,” his mother, Rosemarie, says. On a desk in the office that Sal shares with Nick, stacked papers sit next to a pack of Sal’s Marlboros and an array of black neck ties. Nick’s dress shoes lie on the floor, along with Sal’s crumpled pants, hastily taken off after a funeral and before he had to pick up more bodies. |
| Sal and Nick are the fifth generation of Farengas to own and run the family funeral home, which at 124 years old is one of the oldest in New York City. (Their great-great-grandfather opened the family’s first funeral home in Little Italy in 1896, and his wife became one of the first female undertakers in the state.) The brothers’ father, Sal Sr., and Rosemarie didn’t try to cajole their children into their business (their daughter owns a dog-grooming company). They pushed them to go to college and consider various careers. If you don’t have a heart for this work, he told them, you don’t belong here. But Sal Jr. came to believe what his father did: They are running a business, but with the mission of taking care of the dead and the families left behind with dignity. Nick, the more rebellious brother who initially resisted the idea that he might go into the field, was fired by his father when he was a teenager for not giving his all when he mopped floors and polished doorknobs at the funeral home. But even then, he was moved by how hard the staff worked to help families during their darkest moments of grief. | Sal and Nick are the fifth generation of Farengas to own and run the family funeral home, which at 124 years old is one of the oldest in New York City. (Their great-great-grandfather opened the family’s first funeral home in Little Italy in 1896, and his wife became one of the first female undertakers in the state.) The brothers’ father, Sal Sr., and Rosemarie didn’t try to cajole their children into their business (their daughter owns a dog-grooming company). They pushed them to go to college and consider various careers. If you don’t have a heart for this work, he told them, you don’t belong here. But Sal Jr. came to believe what his father did: They are running a business, but with the mission of taking care of the dead and the families left behind with dignity. Nick, the more rebellious brother who initially resisted the idea that he might go into the field, was fired by his father when he was a teenager for not giving his all when he mopped floors and polished doorknobs at the funeral home. But even then, he was moved by how hard the staff worked to help families during their darkest moments of grief. |
| For years, Sal and Nick, and their father before them, prided themselves on never turning down a family because they lacked room. Then, on April 1, just 10 days after Cuomo’s state stay-at-home order went into effect, a woman called Sal to say her mother had died in a nursing home where there were a number of Covid-19 cases. New York City’s confirmed Covid-19 deaths had reached almost 600 a day, and soon the city’s death rate would be six times the normal number. The family wanted a cremation. But the nursing home couldn’t hold the body any longer. Sal knew crematories were backed up. And his funeral home was out of refrigerated space. “I can’t take her right now,” Sal told the daughter. “I’m not sure when we can.” He hated the sound of his own words. | For years, Sal and Nick, and their father before them, prided themselves on never turning down a family because they lacked room. Then, on April 1, just 10 days after Cuomo’s state stay-at-home order went into effect, a woman called Sal to say her mother had died in a nursing home where there were a number of Covid-19 cases. New York City’s confirmed Covid-19 deaths had reached almost 600 a day, and soon the city’s death rate would be six times the normal number. The family wanted a cremation. But the nursing home couldn’t hold the body any longer. Sal knew crematories were backed up. And his funeral home was out of refrigerated space. “I can’t take her right now,” Sal told the daughter. “I’m not sure when we can.” He hated the sound of his own words. |
| Things got worse from there. The phone calls came from the Bronx, which has the highest coronavirus infection rate per capita in the city, but also from Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The phone rang so often — as many as 100 times a day — that the staff couldn’t keep up; they had calls go to the answering service. When Sal called back, some people begged — they had already tried 20 other funeral homes. Others sounded resigned; they no longer expected to hear yes. Please call back in a couple days if you don’t have luck elsewhere, Sal would say. If a loved one died at home, and the brothers had no room, Nick sometimes suggested that the family allow the medical examiner’s office to keep the body until space freed up. At one point, Nick and Sal said no to 50 families a day over two days. By late April they had turned away more than 200. | Things got worse from there. The phone calls came from the Bronx, which has the highest coronavirus infection rate per capita in the city, but also from Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The phone rang so often — as many as 100 times a day — that the staff couldn’t keep up; they had calls go to the answering service. When Sal called back, some people begged — they had already tried 20 other funeral homes. Others sounded resigned; they no longer expected to hear yes. Please call back in a couple days if you don’t have luck elsewhere, Sal would say. If a loved one died at home, and the brothers had no room, Nick sometimes suggested that the family allow the medical examiner’s office to keep the body until space freed up. At one point, Nick and Sal said no to 50 families a day over two days. By late April they had turned away more than 200. |
| The pandemic was thwarting the decades-old promise of the American funeral industry. We’ve come to expect death care to be efficient, tidy and sanitized. Funeral directors come almost as soon as we call. They remove the bodies swiftly and discreetly. Instead, Nick and Sal simply couldn’t meet the need, even working six and seven days a week, 15 and 16 hours a day. They were short on staff: One of their funeral directors, who had heart surgery not long ago, was taking a leave. Another tested positive for Covid-19 in late March and hasn’t returned to work. Along with temporarily hiring a funeral director who had retired from the field, Sal and Nick relied on their employee Gabby Carrea, 24, who received her funeral-director license just two years ago. | The pandemic was thwarting the decades-old promise of the American funeral industry. We’ve come to expect death care to be efficient, tidy and sanitized. Funeral directors come almost as soon as we call. They remove the bodies swiftly and discreetly. Instead, Nick and Sal simply couldn’t meet the need, even working six and seven days a week, 15 and 16 hours a day. They were short on staff: One of their funeral directors, who had heart surgery not long ago, was taking a leave. Another tested positive for Covid-19 in late March and hasn’t returned to work. Along with temporarily hiring a funeral director who had retired from the field, Sal and Nick relied on their employee Gabby Carrea, 24, who received her funeral-director license just two years ago. |
| Usually, one funeral director tries to take care of each family from that first call to the final disposition of the body in a cemetery or crematory. But now Nick and Sal have reorganized tasks. Nick, savvier with technology and better on the phone, helps families make plans for funerals, cremations and burials, doing most of it from a distance: He sends paperwork electronically as much as possible, along with photos of caskets and urns. He explains that funerals and visitations are now limited to one hour and 10 mourners. At cemeteries, too, only 10, or sometimes fewer, people are allowed. And at one, families can’t even leave their cars. Crematories also prohibit loved ones from coming inside and holding services. It pains Nick and Sal not to fulfill their client’s expectations — and their own — about facilitating generations-old mourning rituals with the many accouterments that help define so many funerals. The pallbearers, ushers, receptions and crowds are all gone. The prayer cards, the hearses, the expensive caskets and the flowers remain. “My drive is always to get a family what they want,” Nick told me. “It’s not what’s wrong and right in how you remember a life. For me it’s ‘How can I make that happen?’ All these restrictions and telling people ‘no’ goes against every fiber of my being.” | Usually, one funeral director tries to take care of each family from that first call to the final disposition of the body in a cemetery or crematory. But now Nick and Sal have reorganized tasks. Nick, savvier with technology and better on the phone, helps families make plans for funerals, cremations and burials, doing most of it from a distance: He sends paperwork electronically as much as possible, along with photos of caskets and urns. He explains that funerals and visitations are now limited to one hour and 10 mourners. At cemeteries, too, only 10, or sometimes fewer, people are allowed. And at one, families can’t even leave their cars. Crematories also prohibit loved ones from coming inside and holding services. It pains Nick and Sal not to fulfill their client’s expectations — and their own — about facilitating generations-old mourning rituals with the many accouterments that help define so many funerals. The pallbearers, ushers, receptions and crowds are all gone. The prayer cards, the hearses, the expensive caskets and the flowers remain. “My drive is always to get a family what they want,” Nick told me. “It’s not what’s wrong and right in how you remember a life. For me it’s ‘How can I make that happen?’ All these restrictions and telling people ‘no’ goes against every fiber of my being.” |
| Some funeral directors have told Sal that he is crazy to continue embalming. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s OK, with precautions, to embalm during the pandemic, the World Health Organization advises against it. It’s unclear how long the virus can live in the nose and mouth of a newly dead person, and there’s concern it can escape the lungs if a dead body is jostled. Sal is undeterred. During each procedure, he wears a Tyvek suit, a head covering, gloves, a face shield and an N-95 mask. He also sprays the dead body’s nose, mouth and eyes with disinfectant and covers the face with alcohol-soaked paper. Next, during the 90-minute embalming process, he washes the body and moves the limbs to loosen any rigor mortis, before pumping in a mix of formaldehyde and other chemicals through an artery and draining the body of blood through a vein. | Some funeral directors have told Sal that he is crazy to continue embalming. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s OK, with precautions, to embalm during the pandemic, the World Health Organization advises against it. It’s unclear how long the virus can live in the nose and mouth of a newly dead person, and there’s concern it can escape the lungs if a dead body is jostled. Sal is undeterred. During each procedure, he wears a Tyvek suit, a head covering, gloves, a face shield and an N-95 mask. He also sprays the dead body’s nose, mouth and eyes with disinfectant and covers the face with alcohol-soaked paper. Next, during the 90-minute embalming process, he washes the body and moves the limbs to loosen any rigor mortis, before pumping in a mix of formaldehyde and other chemicals through an artery and draining the body of blood through a vein. |
| Lately, though, the staff has been dangerously low on personal protective equipment. One Saturday afternoon, after embalming a 51-year-old man and a woman in her 80s, Sal pointed to a spot on his mask. He had penned three small dots on it, marking the three days in a row that he wore it. | Lately, though, the staff has been dangerously low on personal protective equipment. One Saturday afternoon, after embalming a 51-year-old man and a woman in her 80s, Sal pointed to a spot on his mask. He had penned three small dots on it, marking the three days in a row that he wore it. |
| As the Bronx has changed over generations, so have the Farengas’ clients — in addition to Italians, Irish and Puerto Rican families, Nick and Sal work with families who are Albanian, Guyanese, Nigerian, Indian and Vietnamese. The brothers know all about Irish wakes and large Italian funerals but also that Albanians sometimes ship the dead home, to be buried in their ancestral ground. Many Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists hold ceremonies at crematories where they witness the body being placed in the retort, as the cremation furnaces are known. | As the Bronx has changed over generations, so have the Farengas’ clients — in addition to Italians, Irish and Puerto Rican families, Nick and Sal work with families who are Albanian, Guyanese, Nigerian, Indian and Vietnamese. The brothers know all about Irish wakes and large Italian funerals but also that Albanians sometimes ship the dead home, to be buried in their ancestral ground. Many Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists hold ceremonies at crematories where they witness the body being placed in the retort, as the cremation furnaces are known. |
| That’s what Kam Johal’s family would have typically done during a funeral. Her parents are Sikh, and they lived a few blocks from the Farenga Brothers. Years ago, in college, she worked as a secretary for Sal Sr. Then on March 27, Kam, who is 49 and the oldest of five sisters, had to call the funeral home on behalf of her family. Her father, Paramjit Singh Purewal, who was 74, died the day before. | That’s what Kam Johal’s family would have typically done during a funeral. Her parents are Sikh, and they lived a few blocks from the Farenga Brothers. Years ago, in college, she worked as a secretary for Sal Sr. Then on March 27, Kam, who is 49 and the oldest of five sisters, had to call the funeral home on behalf of her family. Her father, Paramjit Singh Purewal, who was 74, died the day before. |
| Earlier that week, when her father was suffering from a fever and painful cough, Kam’s youngest sister, Narinder, who is 34 and lives in the apartment above her parents, called for an ambulance. The E.M.T.s said he was safer staying at home. But the symptoms continued and then got worse: He had difficulty breathing; his oxygen-saturation level, which Narinder measured with a pulse oximeter, was low. After talking to a doctor, Narinder called 911 again. She was told by an E.M.T. that she couldn’t go with her father. So instead Paramjit walked to the curb with her before getting in the ambulance, carrying his phone, a printout of his medical information and his cane. Narinder stayed behind to care for her mother, Gurmit Kaur, who was also struggling with Covid-19 symptoms. | Earlier that week, when her father was suffering from a fever and painful cough, Kam’s youngest sister, Narinder, who is 34 and lives in the apartment above her parents, called for an ambulance. The E.M.T.s said he was safer staying at home. But the symptoms continued and then got worse: He had difficulty breathing; his oxygen-saturation level, which Narinder measured with a pulse oximeter, was low. After talking to a doctor, Narinder called 911 again. She was told by an E.M.T. that she couldn’t go with her father. So instead Paramjit walked to the curb with her before getting in the ambulance, carrying his phone, a printout of his medical information and his cane. Narinder stayed behind to care for her mother, Gurmit Kaur, who was also struggling with Covid-19 symptoms. |
| In the emergency room, medical workers had trouble communicating with Paramjit. Originally from Punjab, he immigrated to England at 15 before coming to the U.S. in 1980; English was his second language, and his hearing was failing. The staff called the family periodically for help, including when they were trying to get him onto his stomach, known as proning, to increase oxygen to his lungs. His wife, Gurmit, 68, meanwhile, was getting sicker. The night her husband went to the hospital, she had a fever and began throwing up. Narinder found her on the floor in the middle of the night, having fallen out of bed. | In the emergency room, medical workers had trouble communicating with Paramjit. Originally from Punjab, he immigrated to England at 15 before coming to the U.S. in 1980; English was his second language, and his hearing was failing. The staff called the family periodically for help, including when they were trying to get him onto his stomach, known as proning, to increase oxygen to his lungs. His wife, Gurmit, 68, meanwhile, was getting sicker. The night her husband went to the hospital, she had a fever and began throwing up. Narinder found her on the floor in the middle of the night, having fallen out of bed. |
| The next morning, Narinder, along with Kam, who was her parents’ health care proxy, made plans to send their mother to the hospital. Then, at 10:35 a.m., 17 hours after their father left his apartment, a doctor called: Their father, he said, was dead. Within minutes, Kam and Narinder were on the phone with their three sisters. Each one fell to the floor when they heard the news. | The next morning, Narinder, along with Kam, who was her parents’ health care proxy, made plans to send their mother to the hospital. Then, at 10:35 a.m., 17 hours after their father left his apartment, a doctor called: Their father, he said, was dead. Within minutes, Kam and Narinder were on the phone with their three sisters. Each one fell to the floor when they heard the news. |
| Updated June 12, 2020 | |
| Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks. | |
| So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement. | So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement. |
| A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study. | A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study. |
| The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April. | The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April. |
| Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission. | Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission. |
| Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home. | Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home. |
| States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people. | States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people. |
| Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. | Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. |
| If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) | If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) |
| Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications. | Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications. |
| The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing. | The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing. |
| If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. | If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. |
| If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested. | If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested. |
| It would be hard to conjure a more tight-knit family than the Purewals. When they first married, to save money to buy a house, four of the five daughters lived rent-free in the apartment above their parents in the house that Paramjit and Gurmit bought or in one they owned next door. Dishi, a kindergarten teacher, drove in from Long Island early each weekday morning and had breakfast with her parents before going to work. Her sister Jazz dropped off her children there before heading to her job. Nena often called them a few times a day to check in. | It would be hard to conjure a more tight-knit family than the Purewals. When they first married, to save money to buy a house, four of the five daughters lived rent-free in the apartment above their parents in the house that Paramjit and Gurmit bought or in one they owned next door. Dishi, a kindergarten teacher, drove in from Long Island early each weekday morning and had breakfast with her parents before going to work. Her sister Jazz dropped off her children there before heading to her job. Nena often called them a few times a day to check in. |
| While her parents were sick, Narinder and her husband took care of them around the clock, giving them Tylenol, making them soup, taking their fluctuating temperature every four hours, rubbing their feet to help them sleep. The other four daughters self-isolated in their own homes: Jazz with her husband and children in New Jersey. Dishi, Kam and Nena with their families on various parts of Long Island. | While her parents were sick, Narinder and her husband took care of them around the clock, giving them Tylenol, making them soup, taking their fluctuating temperature every four hours, rubbing their feet to help them sleep. The other four daughters self-isolated in their own homes: Jazz with her husband and children in New Jersey. Dishi, Kam and Nena with their families on various parts of Long Island. |
| When Kam talked to Nick, she told him that her family wanted an open-casket funeral, but she also explained that her mother was extremely sick in the hospital. They were praying she would improve and that they could hold the funeral once she was released. Sal agreed to perform a more intensive embalming procedure for her father — going in multiple arteries with embalming fluid, rather than just one — to preserve the body for the two to three weeks it might take before her mother would be well enough to attend. Nick also told Kam that he would make an exception and hold two one-hour viewings: one for the daughters, their mother and three of the sons-in-law, and a second, after a one-hour window to disinfect the room, for the seven older grandchildren, ages 8 to 17, and two of their fathers. | When Kam talked to Nick, she told him that her family wanted an open-casket funeral, but she also explained that her mother was extremely sick in the hospital. They were praying she would improve and that they could hold the funeral once she was released. Sal agreed to perform a more intensive embalming procedure for her father — going in multiple arteries with embalming fluid, rather than just one — to preserve the body for the two to three weeks it might take before her mother would be well enough to attend. Nick also told Kam that he would make an exception and hold two one-hour viewings: one for the daughters, their mother and three of the sons-in-law, and a second, after a one-hour window to disinfect the room, for the seven older grandchildren, ages 8 to 17, and two of their fathers. |
| The daughters began to put together the funeral. Narinder, after finding several closed shops, discovered a nearby store owner who agreed to sell her yards of white silk fabric to make traditional kurta pajamas for her father’s burial clothing, cracking the shop door open to hand it to her. And Jazz found a tailor in New Jersey who sewed the outfit in two hours, donating his fee to a local Sikh temple. In the midst of their planning, their mother, to the daughters’ enormous relief, was released after a week in the hospital, some of that time on a ventilator. She moved in with Dishi to recover. | The daughters began to put together the funeral. Narinder, after finding several closed shops, discovered a nearby store owner who agreed to sell her yards of white silk fabric to make traditional kurta pajamas for her father’s burial clothing, cracking the shop door open to hand it to her. And Jazz found a tailor in New Jersey who sewed the outfit in two hours, donating his fee to a local Sikh temple. In the midst of their planning, their mother, to the daughters’ enormous relief, was released after a week in the hospital, some of that time on a ventilator. She moved in with Dishi to recover. |
| Normally, more than 50 relatives would have flown in from England and elsewhere for the funeral. Neighbors would have come, along with members of their father’s religious community. Instead, on April 10, the daughters arrived, one by one. For the first time since their father died two weeks earlier and since their mother came near death, the sisters were seeing one another. They couldn’t kiss or hug. They couldn’t fall into one another’s arms. They spoke their sorrows from a distance, their words muffled behind masks. | Normally, more than 50 relatives would have flown in from England and elsewhere for the funeral. Neighbors would have come, along with members of their father’s religious community. Instead, on April 10, the daughters arrived, one by one. For the first time since their father died two weeks earlier and since their mother came near death, the sisters were seeing one another. They couldn’t kiss or hug. They couldn’t fall into one another’s arms. They spoke their sorrows from a distance, their words muffled behind masks. |
| Inside one of two large chapels at the Farenga Brothers there were 10 chairs, instead of the usual 70 to 80, staggered throughout the room, six feet apart, looking awkward and forlorn. Typically Sal or Nick would oversee the entire funeral, rarely leaving. Now, for the safety of the staff and the families, Kam, her sisters and her mother were left alone. | Inside one of two large chapels at the Farenga Brothers there were 10 chairs, instead of the usual 70 to 80, staggered throughout the room, six feet apart, looking awkward and forlorn. Typically Sal or Nick would oversee the entire funeral, rarely leaving. Now, for the safety of the staff and the families, Kam, her sisters and her mother were left alone. |
| As the funeral service began, a Sikh religious leader from the parents’ temple read a few prayers from one corner of the room. Gurmit, wearing a white embroidered head covering, prayed in front of her husband’s body. Their daughters stood in two rows to her right. | As the funeral service began, a Sikh religious leader from the parents’ temple read a few prayers from one corner of the room. Gurmit, wearing a white embroidered head covering, prayed in front of her husband’s body. Their daughters stood in two rows to her right. |
| Each one approached the casket and told their father how much they loved him and admired his kindness. They revered their father for creating such a strong family and rich life out of hardship. After immigrating to New York City, he became a mechanic for the cookie company Stella D’oro. Sometimes he worked a second job at a restaurant and instead of going home, he slept on a park bench to save money on the commute. He, along with Gurmit, who cleaned houses during the day and cooked at White Castle at night, had skimped and saved enough to buy two properties and to send each of their daughters to college. | Each one approached the casket and told their father how much they loved him and admired his kindness. They revered their father for creating such a strong family and rich life out of hardship. After immigrating to New York City, he became a mechanic for the cookie company Stella D’oro. Sometimes he worked a second job at a restaurant and instead of going home, he slept on a park bench to save money on the commute. He, along with Gurmit, who cleaned houses during the day and cooked at White Castle at night, had skimped and saved enough to buy two properties and to send each of their daughters to college. |
| Gurmit went to the casket and reached out her gloved hand and touched her husband’s forehead, wished him goodbye and laid her head at his waist. Each daughter took a white rose from a chair on which stood a photo of their parents when they were first married and lay the flowers across his body. Jazz lifted her N-95 mask and kissed his cheek. Kam put her face to her father’s chest and placed a note inside his casket. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this life without you,” she had written. “It didn’t matter what I was doing. It was always good to know that you were near and that I could call you and tell you what was on my heart.” | Gurmit went to the casket and reached out her gloved hand and touched her husband’s forehead, wished him goodbye and laid her head at his waist. Each daughter took a white rose from a chair on which stood a photo of their parents when they were first married and lay the flowers across his body. Jazz lifted her N-95 mask and kissed his cheek. Kam put her face to her father’s chest and placed a note inside his casket. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this life without you,” she had written. “It didn’t matter what I was doing. It was always good to know that you were near and that I could call you and tell you what was on my heart.” |
| If not for the pandemic, the family would have then held a ceremony at a crematory. As the oldest child, Kam would have walked to the retort and pushed the button to start the incineration process, reminiscent of the centuries-old tradition of funeral pyres in India. Instead, after the funeral, the sisters got in their separate cars to head to their separate homes, to mourn. | If not for the pandemic, the family would have then held a ceremony at a crematory. As the oldest child, Kam would have walked to the retort and pushed the button to start the incineration process, reminiscent of the centuries-old tradition of funeral pyres in India. Instead, after the funeral, the sisters got in their separate cars to head to their separate homes, to mourn. |
| Around noon four days later, Nick texted Kam that he had left the funeral home with her father’s body and was on his way to Ferncliff Cemetery’s crematory in Hartsdale, N.Y., less than half an hour north. Kam asked him to text her again when he arrived. She looked up an image of Ferncliff to imagine where her father’s body was headed and prayed that the crematory workers would be gentle with the casket and with him. She had already texted a link to her sisters and her mom: a Sikh meditative prayer that her father loved. As Nick drove on the Bronx River Parkway with Kam’s father in the back of his hearse, in an apartment in the Bronx, in a house in New Jersey and in three different homes on Long Island, the six women who most loved Paramjit Singh Purewal prayed for him. | Around noon four days later, Nick texted Kam that he had left the funeral home with her father’s body and was on his way to Ferncliff Cemetery’s crematory in Hartsdale, N.Y., less than half an hour north. Kam asked him to text her again when he arrived. She looked up an image of Ferncliff to imagine where her father’s body was headed and prayed that the crematory workers would be gentle with the casket and with him. She had already texted a link to her sisters and her mom: a Sikh meditative prayer that her father loved. As Nick drove on the Bronx River Parkway with Kam’s father in the back of his hearse, in an apartment in the Bronx, in a house in New Jersey and in three different homes on Long Island, the six women who most loved Paramjit Singh Purewal prayed for him. |
| After 20 minutes, Kam got a text: “He’s here,” Nick wrote. | After 20 minutes, Kam got a text: “He’s here,” Nick wrote. |
| Kam texted her entire family. “It is done.” | Kam texted her entire family. “It is done.” |
| Then, sitting alone at her kitchen table, she wept. | Then, sitting alone at her kitchen table, she wept. |
| Philip Montgomery is a photographer whose current work chronicles the fractured state of America. He previously photographed for the magazine inside eight New York City public hospitals as they struggled with the outbreak. Maggie Jones is a contributing writer for the magazine and teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. She last wrote a feature article about home-funeral guides. | Philip Montgomery is a photographer whose current work chronicles the fractured state of America. He previously photographed for the magazine inside eight New York City public hospitals as they struggled with the outbreak. Maggie Jones is a contributing writer for the magazine and teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. She last wrote a feature article about home-funeral guides. |