What epidemics can teach us about burial places

Burial niches in Medellín, Colombia - Having seen the shocking images of the coffins piled up in Italy on the internet, we need to ask ourselves whether we and the rest of the world are prepared for the considerable impact of the coronavirus epidemic. Christien Klaufus explains how metropolises in Latin America have been preparing their burial places for an epidemic for a while now. Perhaps we could learn something from them. The Netherlands does not have any law that prescribes reserve capacity for burial places in emergency situations. Moreover, most burial sites are located within the built environment, even though we don't know how long the dead continue to carry the virus. Responsibility for drawing up an emergency plan lies with government bodies and municipal authorities, but it is not mandatory. In Latin America, various municipalities have learned the hard way how to deal with their dead during an epidemic and where they should be buried, and this is often laid down in regulations.