Governor Inslee announcing on March 23 that funerals were banned in Washington State. By March 28, hed relaxed the rules slightly.
Governor Inslee announcing on March 23 that funerals were banned in Washington State. By March 28, he'd relaxed the rules slightly. Governor Inslee Official Flickr Photostream

When Governor Inslee announced his "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" orders on March 23, closing all non-essential businesses in the state, he also prohibited "all people in Washington State from leaving their homes or participating in social, spiritual, and recreational gatherings of any kind regardless of the number of participants."

That included weddings and funerals. But weddings are easier to reschedule than funerals are, because you can't control when and where people die. Dead bodies have to go somewhere. Five days later, Inslee relaxed the rules for funerals, allowing them so long as they are attended by only immediate family members who are six feet apart from each other.

Around the world, countries are grappling in their own ways with what to do with their dead. Here are some photos of what funeral rites look like right now in Italy, France, Spain, Ecuador, Brazil, Phillipines, and New York City.

In Venice, Italy, a coffin is brought out of a hospital to be directly transported to a cemetery, because funeral services are banned. The woman was 60 and died of breast cancer.
In Venice, Italy, a coffin is brought out of a hospital to be directly transported to a cemetery, because funeral services are banned. The woman was 60 and died of breast cancer. Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images

In Guayaquil, Ecuador, a relative of the deceased waits in line for the coffin, wrapped in plastic, to be buried. In that country, dead bodies remain in houses and apartments for days, as morgues are overcrowded.
In Guayaquil, Ecuador, a relative of the deceased waits in line for the coffin, wrapped in plastic, to be buried. In that country, dead bodies remain in houses and apartments for days, as morgues are overcrowded. Francisco Macias/Getty Images

In Manila, Phillipines, funeral workers dressed in protective suits disinfect a stretcher after unloading the corpse of a person presumed to have died of the coronavirus. Due to limited testing capacity, numerous patients in the Philippines have reportedly died before receiving their COVID-19 test results.
In Manila, Phillipines, funeral workers dressed in protective suits disinfect a stretcher after unloading the corpse of a person presumed to have died of the coronavirus. Numerous patients in the Philippines have reportedly died before receiving their COVID-19 test results. Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a COVID-19 victim is buried on April 1, in a cemetery that is bracing for many more bodies any moment.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a COVID-19 victim is buried on April 1, in a cemetery that is prepared for many more bodies. Miguel Schincariol/Getty Images

In El Prat de Llobregat, Spain, this is what a funeral for a woman in her 80s looked like. Spain only allows three relatives, socially distanced from each other, to attend burial ceremonies.
In El Prat de Llobregat, Spain, this is what a funeral for a woman in her 80s looked like. Spain only allows three relatives, socially distanced from each other, to attend burial ceremonies. David Ramos/Getty Images

In Altkirch, France, hospital morgue workers assemble a coffin containing an elderly COVID-19 victim.
In Altkirch, France, hospital morgue workers assemble a coffin containing an elderly COVID-19 victim. Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images

Refrigerator trucks—makeshift morgues—are lined up behind NYU Langone Hospital on March 30, 2020 in New York City.
Refrigerated trucks lined up behind an NYU hospital in Manhattan on March 30, ready to receive the dead since morgues are overcrowded. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Members of the Orthodox Jewish community wear face masks as they attend the April 5 funeral for a rabbi who died from the coronavirus in Brooklyn.
Members of the Orthodox Jewish community wear face masks as they attend the April 5 funeral for a rabbi who died from the coronavirus in Brooklyn. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Bonus pic of Trump touching his face on April 3, during a press briefing with the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Bonus pic: Trump touching his face on April 3, during a press briefing with the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Win McNamee/Getty Images