Sadly loved ones and relatives will die without being able to hug or touch the ones they love. Many people are dying alone due to the restrictions of the pandemic. Funerals for loved ones have been disrupted as families have faced unprecended restrictions in how they bury or cremate their loved ones. The pandemic has brought many changes to well established and meaningful practices of funerals. The changes were most dramatic which were around death and the restrictions to the usual rituals of death that families do as part of the grieving process in the UK (DHSC,2020). These are subject to the legal regulations, the timing of the funeral could not be chosen by the families and with limited numbers of people who could attend burials or cremations. The physical distancing rules of being 2 meters apart from one another meant that people could not hug, embrace or give reassuruing touches, which are gestures of social and emotional support(DHSC,2020).

These expressions and gestures of support are an important part of how people grieve . The absence of these important aspects may significantly impact the health, mental health and well being  of the bereved. As grief or grieving is a natural process and can be very devasting. Over 750,000 people are suffering with intense grief due to the coranvirus (Cruse,2021).

Between June 2020 and January 2021 60% of callers to the cruse bereavement care charity said that the grief that the callers were sufffering was due to the pandemic. Visits to the bereavement website increased by 25% between 2019 and 2020 (Cruse,2021).

The effects of the pandemic will continue to take serious and severe impact on people for a long time to come (cruse,2021).

For every person that dies, means that 6 people are sufffering from intense grief, with the current death toll of over 126,000 (Cruse,2021)

Since the start of the pandemic a year ago in March 2020 cruse bereavement care helpline answered 70% more calls in 2020 than they did in the year 2019(cruse bereavement, 2021). Cruse bereavemnet care offers support to people who are grieving a loved one or family member, this charity has been established for over 60 years and is run by volunteers. According to these facts the pandemic and the grieving process disruptions are in fact having a big impact on a persons mental health.

References

https://www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk.

https://departmentofhealthandsocialcare.org.uk.