'Astronaut gravediggers' are the norm in cemeteries, which suggest a setting from another planet.
The burials have been causing a lot of stress for the gravediggers, as in most cases there are no results to determine the cause of death, which is most likely coronavirus. They protect themselves almost like astronauts to handle and bury the coffin.
247 The coronavirus pandemic and the inability of the Brazilian health system to test all corpses has left gravediggers under great stress. Brazilian cemeteries end up looking like another planet, with 'astronauts' moving through the alleys of the dead's houses.
A report from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo It tells the story of some of these cases: "only four family members attended, at 15:15 pm this Wednesday (1st), the burial of Nazareno Costa, 72 years old, at the São Francisco Xavier cemetery, in Caju (port region of Rio). The gravediggers wore gloves, masks and other protective equipment. Costa died with suspected Covid-19. The burial, carried out before the test result is ready and confirms or rules out contamination, required special care. The buried man lived in Baixada Fluminense, on the outskirts of the Rio Metropolitan Region."
The article highlights the account of a pastor: "The gravediggers looked like astronauts," said Pastor Ismael China, a longtime friend of the family who was invited to provide spiritual assistance. "Normally we would fill two buses with friends and family and bring them to the cemetery to attend the ceremony, but in this situation it's impossible, it would be too dangerous."
The report further adds: "China, a member of the Assembly of God Plantar Ministry in Jacarezinho (northern zone of Rio), lamented that the suspicion of possible contamination prevented friends from saying goodbye to Nazareno and made consoling hugs impossible. “I attended several wakes and funerals in recent weeks, and this is the first involving someone suspected of having died from the coronavirus. Every funeral is sad, but this situation is different, even worse. It's a shame, there's no affectionate moment, we can't greet people,” he stated. “The family members who were with Mr. Nazareno in his final days, before he fell ill, remain tense because they don't know if they were infected. And his wife is elderly.”