Coronavirus: Thousands of Burials Across Latin America
Recent images of some of the services and memorials in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and more
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In FocusResponses to the coronavirus pandemic have differed widely from country to country. Experts from the World Health Organization recently warned that the number of cases is now soaring in larger countries, with “worrying increases” developing in Latin America, with “a jump in cases in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia and Guatemala.” Brazil has now passed more than 1 million recorded cases, with more than 52,700 deaths attributed to the virus so far. The increased number of infections and deaths have led to a significant increase in burials and cremations. Workers at coffin factories, crematoriums, funeral homes, and cemeteries have been taking on extra work for months now, helping the thousands of grieving families who have lost loved ones in this pandemic. Below are images of some of the many burials of COVID-19 victims across Latin America over the past few weeks.
1. Chalco cemetery workers wear protective equipment against COVID-19 as they bury the deceased on June 7, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico.
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2. An aerial view of graves in the Nossa Senhora Aparecida Cemetery in Manaus, Brazil, on June 21, 2020
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3. Relatives carry the coffin of a person believed to have died from COVID-19 complications at the Parque Memorial Jardin de los Angeles Cemetery, 14 km north of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on June 21, 2020. Honduras is overwhelmed by deaths caused by COVID-19 and the large number of people infected that are admitted every day in different hospitals across the country.
Orlando Sierra / AFP / Getty
4. Reyes Julián, also known as El Rey, is one of the musicians who offers his services in the Valle de Chalco cemetery to sing during people's burials, photographed on June 14, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. Since the COVID-19 crisis began, his work has increased. He has said there are days when he sings for 14 different families.
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5. Workers place a cross on the grave of Jose Manuel Chun, a COVID-19 victim, as relatives look during his burial at the Municipal Cemetery #13 in Tijuana, Mexico, on June 9, 2020.
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6. A cemetery worker holds flowers during the burial of a coronavirus victim at the Cementerio Jardin in Soyapango, El Salvador, on June 12, 2020.
Jose Cabezas / Reuters
7. Gravediggers wearing protective suits bury the coffin of 48-year-old Jose Soares, who died from COVID-19, in Sao Luiz Cemetery, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 4, 2020.
Amanda Perobelli / Reuters
8. Bergut Funeral Services employees deliver coffins to a funeral store in Santiago, Chile, on June 19, 2020. Coffin production has increased by 120 percent, according to the owner, Nicolas Bergerie. A basic coffin, called the "COVID model," was designed to cope with the increase of deaths during the pandemic.
Esteban Felix / AP
9. A worker checks a cremation oven at the Panteón Municipal in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico, on June 5, 2020.
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10. A man receives the urn containing the ashes of his father, a victim of COVID-19, at the crematorium of the Iztapalapa Pantheon in Mexico City, on June 11, 2020.
Pedro Pardo / AFP / Getty
11. Officials from the cemetery of Inhauma work on the construction of an additional vertical cemetery, for the victims of COVID-19, in the north of Rio de Janeiro, on June 4, 2020.
Fabio Teixeira / Anadolu Agency / Getty
12. Gravediggers carry a coffin to be buried in Managua, Nicaragua, on June 8, 2020, for a night "express burial," a procedure that has been in place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Victims' families and opposition groups have accused President Daniel Ortega's government of ordering "express burials," in which victims of respiratory illnesses are buried in sealed boxes, without funerals, to avoid infections and to hide the true number of COVID-19 infections.
Inti Ocon / AFP / Getty
13. Relatives attend the funeral of the evangelical pastor Jose Ovidio Valladares, of the Evangelical Restoration Community, who died allegedly from COVID-19, at the Jardines del Recuerdo Cemetery in Managua, Nicaragua, on June 5, 2020.
Inti Ocon / AFP / Getty
14. Workers of the Piedrangel crematorium carry a body bag containing a victim of the COVID-19 who died at home, in Lima, Peru, on June 9, 2020.
Sebastian Castaneda/ Reuters
15. Mauricio Navarrete unloads a coffin with a victim of COVID-19 from a hearse at a cemetery in Mexico City on June 1, 2020.
Pedro Pardo / AFP / Getty
16. People watch from a tree as a burial takes place at the Parque Memorial Jardin de los Angeles Cemetery in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on June 21, 2020.
Orlando Sierra / AFP / Getty
17. Omar Soto, a worker with the San Isidro Pantheon, poses for a photograph before the burial of a COVID-19 victim, in Mexico City, on June 10, 2020.
Alfredo Estrella / AFP / Getty
18. Victims of COVID-19 are buried in the cemetery of Inhauma in Rio de Janeiro on June 4, 2020.
Fabio Teixeira / Anadolu Agency / Getty
19. An aerial view shows a burial of a victim of COVID-19 at the General Cemetery in Santiago, Chile, on June 15, 2020.
Javier Torres / AFP / Getty
20. Relatives mourn at the funeral of 67-year-old Mauricio Ortega during his burial at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco, in the outskirts of Mexico City, on June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19.
Marco Ugarte / AP
21. A worker at the Municipal Pantheon poses for a picture before the burial of an alleged COVID-19 victim, in the municipality of Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador, on June 22, 2020.
Marvin Recinos / AFP / Getty
22. Gravediggers of the Santa Tecla Cemetery carry the coffin of a victim of COVID-19 on June 22, 2020, in Santa Tecla, El Salvador.
Yuri Cortez / AFP / Getty
23. Mariachis perform during the burial of a COVID-19 victim at Jardin de los Angeles Cemetery in Tegucigalpa on June 20, 2020.
Orlando Sierra / AFP / Getty
24. A man wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant on a woman during the burial of an alleged victim of the new coronavirus at the Parque Memorial Jardin de los Angeles Cemetery in Tegucigalpa on June 21, 2020.
Orlando Sierra / AFP / Getty
25. Cemetery workers dig graves in an area exclusively set aside for COVID-19 victims at the Xico Cemetery in Valle de Chalco, Mexico, on June 17, 2020.
Manuel Velasquez / Anadolu Agency / Getty