Maitland cemetery has been impacted by heavy rainfall, which has contributed to the availability of public graves there.
City cemeteries have capacity to handle the increase in burials, but funeral organisers are encouraged to consider weekday burials to limit congestion at cemeteries.
In the last seven day reporting period, a total of 638 burials were completed at City cemeteries, up from 488 the week before.
Of these, 215 burials took place at Klip Road cemetery in Grassy Park, 130 at Maitland cemetery, 103 at Wallacedene and 74 burials at Welmoed cemetery.
However, cemeteries continue to experience an increase in burials week-on-week, as the third wave of Covid-19 infections continue to claim fatalities.
Maitland cemetery has been impacted by heavy rainfall this has also been a contributing factor in the availability of public graves due to its high water table.
Of these, 215 burials took place at Klip Road cemetery in Grassy Park, 130 at Maitland cemetery, 103 at Wallacedene and 74 burials at Welmoed cemetery.
Zahid Badroodien, City’s mayoral committee member for community services and health says that what the City is currently experiencing is similar to the previous two waves of Covid-19 infections.
“The City has sufficient capacity to accommodate burials, but if one considers the number of burials at Klip Road in the past week, that equates to an average of 30 a day, which means a lot of foot traffic in and out of the cemetery, increased risk of close contact and increased pressure on staff to manage the situation”, Dr Badroodien said.
People are therefore urged to consider weekday burials to help alleviate the pressure on cemeteries, as well as alternatives to burial where this is not prohibited on religious grounds, he said.