Embalmer Mary Evans prepares the body of a person who died from COVID-19 in the mortuary at W. Uden & Sons Family Funeral Directors in Bromley, south east London, Britain, January 28, 2021. With the deceased arriving faster than they can be cremated or buried, the mortuaries at the funeral home are packed with coffins, many pinned with a sign: “COVID-19 – TAKE PRECAUTIONS.” REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Britain has recorded more COVID-19 deaths per capita than any other country, but Matthew Uden (pictured) said he refused to be numbed by the escalating toll. “These are people’s loved ones, they’re not numbers,” he said. “No matter how busy we are, everyone is treated with the same dignity and respect.” REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Uden & Sons usually arranges about 10 funerals a day during the winter. Now it is doing 15 or 16, with dozens more bodies awaiting collection from hospitals and care homes. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Funeral conductor Spencer Baxter and pallbearer Doug Austin prepare a hearse, Staff at funeral homes play vital roles in the battle against the pandemic, but often get less recognition than doctors, nurses and other frontline workers. Reuters spent a day at Uden & Sons, where staff provided a rare window into love, death and grieving in the time of coronavirus, even as they worked long hours to keep up with the march of the dead. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Britain’s funeral directors arranged around 90,000 more funerals in 2020 than in recent years, according to the National Association of Funeral Directors, a leading trade association. “In terms of 2021 (funerals), we’re currently about 30 percent up on a normal January/February,” said Deborah Smith, the association’s spokeswoman. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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The company’s bearers carefully loaded coffins onto hearses parked outside its various branches. At the back of the shops, 19 bodies arrived from hospitals and care homes, and another three were collected overnight. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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During the pandemic’s first wave last spring, Uden said it took a week and a half to arrange a funeral. Now, families had to wait four or five weeks, as mortuary and registry staff struggled to process the sheer volume of deaths. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Funeral directors Spencer Baxter and Adam Tremelling make final checks on a deceased person ahead of a funeral. The company already has 130 funerals booked for February, among them an unusual number of “double funerals,” of husbands and wives who die around the same time. Before the pandemic, they arranged about nine such funerals in a year. Now, they have nine in the next month alone. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Uden. One couple had been married for over 50 years and died of COVID-19 within an hour of each other, he said. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Embalmer Mary Evans dresses in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) before entering the mortuary. None of Uden’s staff have caught the virus, which he credits to extra precautions the company has taken. All vehicles are sanitized between funerals, and the limousines have screens to separate driver and passengers. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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In the mortuary, embalmer Mary Evans wears heavy duty personal protective equipment as she prepares the body of elderly COVID victim, and doesn’t move the body more than necessary in case the lungs expel infected air droplets. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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“When we see a deceased who has died from COVID and been very severely ill, it isn’t very nice,” said Evans. She said her work allowed families to “see their loved ones at rest, looking as peaceful as they can.” REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Coffins containing the bodies of people who died from COVID-19 are seen in a mortuary at W. Uden & Sons. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Embalmer Mary Evans prepares the body of a person who died from COVID-19. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Embalmer Mary Evans poses for a portrait in the mortuary. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Friends and relatives of Eileen Anderson, who died from COVID-19, pay their respects during her funeral service in the chapel at Beckenham Crematorium in south east London. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Floral tributes are seen at Beckenham Cemetery after the funeral of Eileen Anderson, who died from COVID-19 in south east London. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Funeral workers are accustomed to death, but the pandemic had still taken an emotional toll, said Matthew Uden (pictured). His eyes teared up when he recalled a “remarkable” 12-year-old girl who, despite losing her father to COVID, brimmed with strength and positivity at his funeral. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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W. Uden & Sons Funeral Conductor Spencer Baxter leads the procession of a funeral service in Sidcup. Uden also saw other signs of hope and resilience, despite households being isolated due to lockdown. He said whole neighborhoods often emerged from their houses to stand silently in respect as a hearse carried someone away. “It’s so touching to see,” he said. “Even though we’re not together, it’s bringing a real togetherness.” REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Workshop manager Jack Uden lines a coffin in the workshop. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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A funeral van containing empty coffins is seen ahead of workers collecting the bodies of deceased people from hospital morgues. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Pallbearers from W. Uden & Sons Family Funeral Directors prepare and polish a hearse. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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A funeral director from W. Uden & Sons prepares to conduct a funeral. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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A pallbearer from W. Uden & Sons Family Funeral Directors prepares a hearse. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Pallbearers from W. Uden & Sons Family Funeral Directors bow their heads to a coffin during a funeral service in Bromley. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Pallbearers from W. Uden & Sons Family Funeral Directors load a coffin into a hearse. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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Pallbearers from W. Uden & Sons Family Funeral Directors carry the coffin of Eileen Anderson, who died from COVID-19, into the chapel at Beckenham Crematorium. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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W. Uden & Sons Funeral Conductor Spencer Baxter leads a team briefing with pallbearers ahead of a funeral service in Sidcup. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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W. Uden & Sons Funeral Conductor Spencer Baxter bows his head to a hearse containing a coffin as it is driven to a crematorium in Bromley. REUTERS/Hannah McKay



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