Family and Mourning
The COVID-19 pandemic has isolated the elderly not only at home but also in hospitals. Visits are usually not permitted. Several patients of advanced age with severe infection have died alone in the hospital or in nursing homes.
The suffering of the family does not end there, as containment measures also apply in the context of mourning, which adds trauma to that of death itself. Corpses are considered potentially infectious, so are deposited as soon as possible in a body bag that will never be reopened. During the peak of the outbreak in Madrid, we had so many deaths that an ice rink had to be used as a provisional morgue. It was frequently impossible for families to see their deceased loved ones one last time.
Figure 2:  Official Daily Evolution of the Number of Patients Admitted to Hospital, Admitted to Intensive Care Units, who Died and who Recovered in Spain  Source: Ministerio de Sanidad et al. 2020.[12]
Figure 3:  Confinement – the Stay-at-home Policy – has Positive and Negative Effects in Individuals of Advanced Age   The rules of social distancing put in place by the health authorities applies also at funerals. Services must be limited to close family members only (with a maximum of three people), usually with video recording and streaming for those who wish to attend the funeral from a distance. Finally, the vast majority of older people in Spain are Catholic. The fact that public masses have been cancelled makes the situation even more difficult for families.