City of Cape Town encourages weekday burials
The City of Cape Town is encouraging funeral organisers to consider weekday burials in order to limit congestion at cemeteries.
CAPE TOWN, July 27 (ANA) – The City of Cape Town is encouraging funeral organisers to consider weekday burials in order to limit congestion at cemeteries.
An increase in burials has been recorded as the third wave of Covid-19 infections hit the metropole.
In a statement released on Tuesday, mayoral committee member for community services and health Councillor Zahid Badroodien said that in the last seven days there have been 638 burials at City of Cape Town cemeteries and 488 the week before.
Of the burials, 215 took place at Klip Road cemetery in Grassy Park, 130 at Maitland cemetery, 103 at Wallacedene and 74 at Welmoed cemetery.
Badroodien said the availability of public graves has been affected by a high water table at the Maitland cemetery due to heavy rainfall.
“‘What we are experiencing now is similar to the previous two waves of Covid-19 infections, when fatalities increased sharply.
“The City has sufficient capacity to accommodate burials, but if one considers the number of burials at Klip Road in the past week, that equates to an average of 30 a day, which means a lot of foot traffic in and out of the cemetery, increased risk of close contact and increased pressure on staff to manage the situation.
“We therefore need a collective effort to ensure that we are able to manage the situation effectively, and in the best interests of public health and safety,” he said.
Badroodien has urged funeral organisers to consider weekday burials to help alleviate the pressure on cemeteries, as well as alternatives to burial that it not prohibited on religious grounds.
He said that in the past week the Maitland Crematorium completed 84 cremations. Thirty-two were transferred to private crematoria while maintenance work on one of the cremators at Maitland was being finalised.
Badroodien said cemetery visits will likely resume by August 10, depending on the reduction in the Covid-19 caseload.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher