Minnesota funeral directors face challenges during COVID-19 restrictions

With the COVID-19 outbreak across Minnesota, funeral directors face challenging times as visitations, funerals and burial services are restricted.

John Jaskulske has been a funeral director for over 30 years.  He said the limitations put on families during their toughest moments in life have been hard to explain to customers.

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"It is not easy to tell them they can only have 10 family members and friends at the visitation and funeral," Jaskulske said. "And military veterans are not getting their honor guard tributes, and people can go to the cemetery but only watch the internment from their cars."

Jaskulske said he started telling families to delay funeral services for a month or two, if at all possible, because it is an important time to have people there for support.

"One thing we could do as an industry is find more options to refrigerate bodies and help these families," Jaskulske said. "If it means putting things off for a month, or more, it is in their best interests and worth it and we should do it."

Other options include conducting the funeral services and burials with video and social media.