Brazil's biggest cemetery braces for COVID-19 impact

Vila Formosa, the biggest cemetery in Latin America, a seemingly endless stretch of graves on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, is adapting to the new funeral rites of our times: six-minute burials, no wakes, no hugs. And it is bracing for things to get a lot worse.

On a recent afternoon at Vila Formosa cemetery, coffins were arriving so quickly the grave-diggers had to ask mourners to wait. Mourners with "D3" marked on their loved one's death certificates - for suspected or confirmed cases of the new coronavirus - were ordered to keep funeral parties to less than 10 mourners, no open caskets or embracing allowed.

Burials take just six minutes total, from the moment the hearse is opened to the wreath of flowers laid on the closed tomb. The federal government this week had authorised burials without a death certificate in exceptional cases, anticipating a surge in funerals.

The coronavirus pandemic is probably just getting started in Brazil, the hardest-hit country in Latin America, with 14,049 cases and 688 deaths so far. Those numbers have been rising fast. Authorities expect the worst will only arrive between late April and June.

Vila Formosa is already feeling the pressure. The cemetery stretches as far as the eye can see on the east side of Sao Paulo. Its more than 750,000 square meters are estimated to hold 1.5 million people's remains.

"We usually bury about 45 people a day. But last week there were 12 to 15 more per day," a grave digger said as he dug a long line of plots in the deep red earth of the cemetery's oldest wing, getting ready for the next day's burials.

Sao Paulo, a sprawling city of 12 million people, is the epicenter of the outbreak in Latin America, with over 14,000 cases so far. Preparing for a surge in burials, the city has hired 220 temporary workers for its 22 municipal cemeteries. | Above: A satellite view shows Vila Formosa cemetery.

The reinforcements were badly needed: the city's usual brigade of 257 grave-diggers has been diminished by 60 percent, many of them in self-isolation because they are at high risk for the new coronavirus. Sao Paulo city, which usually purchases 6,000 coffins every six months for public funeral homes, ordered 8,000 more in March alone.

Bodies of those with unconfirmed coronavirus are treated the same way as those with confirmed diagnoses. Small crowds were still gathering around Vila Formosa, with many wondering aloud if their loved ones had died of the coronavirus or had spread the disease to them.

The grave diggers of Vila Formosa are working at a grueling pace, as their load has doubled to almost 60 burials per day.

Employees bury a person who died suspectedly from COVID-19 at the Vila Formosa cemetery, in the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

Gravediggers open new graves at Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo.

Employees carry the coffin of a person who died suspectedly from COVID-19 at the Vila Formosa cemetery.

Employees bury a person who died suspectedly from COVID-19 at the Vila Formosa cemetery, in the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

A gravedigger opens new graves with an excavator at Vila Formosa cemetery,in Sao Paulo.

Employees bury a person who died suspectedly from COVID-19 at the Vila Formosa cemetery, in the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

Gravediggers wearing protective suits gather at Vila Formosa cemetery, in Sao Paulo.

A satellite view shows Vila Formosa cemetery, in Sao Paulo.