Funeral Homes at Frontlines of COVID-19 Crisis

A man in a mask boards a bus on campus at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, on March 13, 2020. Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images

SHERBROOKE—So far, Shelley MacArthur considers herself lucky—if that is the right word. As an apprentice funeral director at G.W. Griffin in Country Harbour, she’s only had to deal with three bereaved families since the beginning of the COVID−19 crisis. And none of the deaths had anything to do with the virus.

But what if they had? What then?