-I know it hurts, it stinks.
Yes, we are crying.
We can't even hug each other,
can't even embrace how we want to embrace.
It's gonna be hard this year.
-At the Eglise Baptiste Du Calvaire in Adelphi, Maryland,
the family of Eric Dubuche
gathered to pray for their beloved uncle,
father, and husband,
who died in early April from complications
due to the coronavirus.
Nadia, his wife of more than 30 years,
sang one of their favorite in Haitian Creole.
-[singing in Haitian Creole] -We didn't know he had the virus
until the hospital said he had it.
-So when we heard news that, you know, he had COVID-19,
it wasn't until he was actually complaining about he had a fever
and he just wasn't feeling like himself,
didn't want to move out of the bed.
And so finally, you know, he was having issues with breathing,
so my mother took him to the hospital.
-Even the last few words he said to me
before entering the emergency room.
-[speaking Haitian Creole] -He looked at me and said,
"We will not win this battle this time."
-Friends and relatives waited in their cars
to pay their respects,
abiding the cemetery's social distancing restrictions.
These restrictions in place to protect the families
of those who have passed,
as well as workers at cemeteries and funeral homes.
The coronavirus brings additional challenges
to a job that,
even under normal circumstances, can be trying.
-It's difficult.
It's one of the hardest moments
that I have during the service process.
You know, usually, at a funeral, if you have an open casket,
the family want to touch the hand of the deceased
or kiss them on the cheek.
They're letting out a lot of emotions
and they're doing what they normally would do.
Now, if we have a person who passed away with COVID-19,
as a funeral provider, we actually do tell them,
you know, "Hey, because of the situation,
we want to make sure you're safe."
-Manouchka and Daniel Payne own Precious
Memories Funeral Service in Washington, DC.
-We've been really busy lately.
Our call volume has tripled probably in the last month,
but we've gotten a number of calls from families
who have lost loved ones of COVID-19.
-That means taking extra precautions
around COVID-19 victims.
But shortages in personal protective equipment
means they're risking their health.
-We have a shortage of gloves.
We have a shortage of body bags, aprons.
There are a number of things that we're in constant
need of every day,
and we don't know who to turn to right now.
We've tried our local government.
We've tried some vendors in our area,
and everyone has a shortage of PPEs now.
-At the Fort Lincoln Funeral Home in Brentwood, Maryland,
near the DC border,
Katrina Smith says her usual vendors
have run out of many of the supplies she needs.
-Lysol spray, Clorox wipes, some of the masks,
the N-95 masks are a hot commodity right now,
so those have been a bit challenging to get.
We did reach out
to the Prince George's County Health Department,
and they didn't have any extra supplies for funeral homes.
-For now, Smith is trying to make things work
by getting supplies from her partner
firms across the country.
Her stress, like other funeral home directors,
is compounded by her inability
to care for her clients like she used to.
-This is scary. This is scary for all of us.
And I would say to anyone that's not taking it seriously
that they need to take a harsh look
at what's going on around them.
-It's very difficult. We take it home every night.
There's many nights in the last two weeks that I've cried
because we can't accommodate families in the norm
that they're used to and bring closure to their families.
-[singing in Haitian Creole]