El Paso funeral homes still being impacted two years since pandemic

EL PASO, Texas -- Despite vaccines and other therapeutics readily available, El Paso funeral homes are still being impacted by the pandemic nearly two years since the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed.

The peak in late fall of 2020 has forced them to adapt.

"We have a little bit more information on what Covid-19 (is) and what kind of services we can offer our families during the difficult time," said Chris Lujan, funeral director at Sunset Funeral Home in west El Paso.

Since the start of 2022, El Paso has averaged 35 Covid-19 deaths per week.

During this surge, Lujan said the funeral home is seeing younger people dying from the virus compared to the last winter surge.

One of the biggest issues of the last surge was that Sunset simply didn’t have the capacity to handle the sheer number of funerals it was conducting. Lujan said Sunset has increased their capacity which allows families to properly say goodbye to their loved ones in a timely manner.

"Preparing ourselves with a refrigeration units kind of has helped us not be too overwhelmed and were able to house everyone in a dignified manner at all times," Lujan said.

As we've learned more about how the virus works, so have staff. Lujan said a majority of his workers are vaccinated. and face masks are worn throughout the day. Sunset has also given staff an extra day to help them regroup during this time.

"We just saw so many deaths, family members losing one to three family members within months," Lujan said when asked about how this winter surge compares to the last. "I think just made it difficult not only for the family of course that we're serving, but also for our staff...yes, we see death every day, but we don't want to see that many deaths."

Lujan said the pandemic has also changed the way services are run, adding that most families have also requested to live stream the services.