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'Surreal': NY Funeral Homes Struggle as Virus Deaths Surge

Associated Press

   NEW YORK - Pat Marmo walked among 20 or so deceased in the basement of
   his Brooklyn funeral home, his protective mask pulled down so his pleas
   could be heard.

   "Every person there, they're not a body," he said. "They're a father,
   they're a mother, they're a grandmother. They're not bodies. They're
   people."

   Like many funeral homes in New York and around the globe, Marmo's
   business is in crisis as he tries to meet surging demand amid the
   coronavirus pandemic that has killed around 1,400 people in New York
   City alone, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

   His two cellphones and the office line are ringing constantly. He's
   apologizing to families at the start of every conversation for being
   unusually terse, and begging them to insist hospitals hold their dead
   loved ones as long as possible.

   His company is equipped to handle 40 to 60 cases at a time, no problem.
   On Thursday morning, it was taking care of 185.

   "This is a state of emergency," he said. "We need help."

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