On March 17th, 2020, Betty Smith of the Scioto County Daily News spoke with Scott Davis, the owner of Roger W. Davis Funeral Home. The purpose of the interview was to learn how the funeral home plans to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Davis mentioned that in the original guidelines put out by Governor Mike DeWine, funeral homes were exempt from the limits that were placed on large gatherings. He was unsure if this exemption was still true after Governor DeWine’s most recent conference.
Regardless of the possible exemptions, the funeral home is still taking precautions such as increasing the distance between chairs and providing tissues and hand sanitizer to attendees. They are also attempting to minimize handshakes and other physical contacts as much as possible.
Davis states that these precautions are being taken in order to keep both his staff and the public safe, in a way that still allows them to honor the deceased in a respectful way. Based on Davis’ understanding, if someone passed away from the Coronavirus, they would still be able to hold a funeral for them and they would not still be contagious after death.
