While RJ Sidney Craig funeral director John Crooks is glad to see restrictions on funerals eased from today, he admits that the coming months could be very hard to manage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"Today's been an absolute nightmare," said Mr Crooks.
"We've been running around all day measuring churches, trying to work it all out."
The number cap on funerals, which had most recently been set at 50 people, has now been removed entirely.
At the start of the shutdown, the number of mourners was only 10 people.
READ ALSO
Under the new guidelines, funeral attendees must still maintain 1.5 metres from others (apart from members of the same household), meaning the size of the building will still continue to limit the number of people allowed.
"St Saviour's Cathedral will fit 150 people, as will Sts Peter and Paul's," said Mr Crooks.
"But smaller venues like Our Lady of Fatima will only fit 70."
The Craig's Hill Crematorium would still be limited to 50 due to its size.
Mr Crooks pointed out that attendees at something like a graveside service would be unlimited, as long as they maintained social distancing.
He said each funeral would require mourners use a sign-on sheet, providing their name, phone number and signature.
"Then if anything happens they can track it," said Mr Crooks.
"NSW Health made us sign that we understand what is required of us."
He expected that the task of policing the numbers and social distancing would fall largely to the funeral directors.
The official document sent by NSW Health to funeral directors also included gatherings immediately after the funeral or memorial service in the exemption.
We have removed our paywall from our stories about coronavirus restrictions. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe
