Funeralcast, Australia's leading provider of funeral webcasting, has seen a 600% increase in enquiries over the past two weeks as Coronavirus health concerns escalate, and the Prime Minister imposes a ten-person restriction on funeral groups.
Funeralcast's easy-use technology enables an entire funeral service to be live-streamed to a secure URL, meaning family and friends can attend the service virtually, from anywhere they have an internet connection.
The technology is being embraced by families and funeral directors as a timely and necessary solution to an increasing number of barriers to funeral attendance.
Unprecedented Restrictions Placed on Funeral Sizes
As our country, and indeed the world, fights to combat COVID-19, never-before-seen physical barriers have been placed on social groups, including funeral services.
After a meeting of the National Cabinet on Tuesday evening, the Prime Minister announced that funeral groups would be restricted to just ten people from midnight Wednesday.
This extreme measure comes in addition to existing social distancing rules of 1.5 metres, and brings about a very real need to turn to high-quality webcasting as an alternative to traditional funeral services.
"By live-streaming funerals with Funeralcast, any number of people can watch the service from their homes and still be involved," Gorman explains.
Funeral Webcasts Are Not Just for the Elderly
Since late-February, Funeralcast Director, Scott Gorman, has been inundated with requests to film and stream funerals – and the audience is growing.
According to Gorman, while funeral casting has become more feasible over the past few years, especially as older generations grow more accustomed to being online, he's noticed a vast shift in the demographics requesting funeral live-streaming.
"Until recently, most of the viewers were people who couldn't get to a service because of a physical barrier. They might live in a nursing home, interstate or overseas. But with all the frightening news and distancing rules around Coronavirus, a lot of younger people who would normally attend are feeling scared about being in groups - especially among people they may not know."
Marked Increase in Deaths Expected as Winter Looms
Every year there are 30,000 funeral services held in Australia, with death numbers typically rising 26 per cent in July and August.
As winter approaches, and Coronavirus spreads, concerns around the logistics of funeral and memorial services is likely to become a huge concern to a great number of Australian families.
Gorman says, "Losing a loved one is such a difficult time for families and friends. With everything going on in the world causing people so much added stress, it's nice to be able to offer them a solution to a problem, and allow people who can't be present a chance to say their goodbyes."
