Funeral workers no longer allowed inside hospitals and homes to pick up bodies

Funeral home staff have been prohibited from entering hospitals and long-term care homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that workers at those facilities are now responsible for bringing out the bodies of the dead themselves. Whereas funeral home staff previously went into hospitals and long-term care homes themselves to retrieve and bag bodies, a new rule that went into effect earlier this week means that they are now required to stop outside the facilities and provide staff with a stretcher and body bag. The staff at those facilities will then be expected to bag the body and bring it out. Ontario’s Chief Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer confirmed the change to CP24 on Thursday, noting that the decision was made in conjunction with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario.