93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The COVID – 19 crisis in Missouri hasn’t just been tough on first responders. It’s also been difficult for the group that calls itself the “Last Responders.”
Don Otto with the Missouri Funeral Directors Association said the stories over St. Louis hospitals and some funeral homes there running out of storage space for bodies during initial stages of the pandemic were misleading. He said, while a couple homes came close to running out of space, confusion over what was and wasn’t allowed played a big role.
“The families didn’t know what to do. The body is at the funeral home and the family can’t have a funeral, they can’t have a visitation or maybe they can next week, or maybe they’re hoping this order expires,” said Otto.
Otto said his group also challenged the Kansas City order threatening to close all funeral homes there. He says the Mayor’s office caved when funeral directors asked them if city staff were ready to be the ones to pick up the bodies.
