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Paul Lesako admits the obvious. âIâm in the death business in a sense,â said the man who owns and operates a Carmichaels funeral home.
He was accustomed to the grim undertakings of his profession â but not the grim ramifications of COVID-19.
âI handled 14 cases through last year,â Lesako said, referring to people who succumbed to the coronavirus. Some had relocated out of state and some had remained local.
âItâs been tough for me mentally. Iâd say its been brutal. You lose people youâve known for decades, who may have been older but were in good health, who succumbed to (the coronavirus).â
Help with funeral costs for people who ve died from COVID-19 could be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, officials announced recently.
Family members can apply for financial assistance starting Monday, agency officials said in a news release.
Funding assistance will be available for COVID-19-related funeral expenses incurred after Jan. 20, 2020, and is through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Ahead of Monday, agency officials have also issued a warning for families to beware of scams.
“We have received reports of scammers reaching out to people offering to register them for funeral assistance,” the agency’s website states. “FEMA has not sent any such notifications and we do not contact people prior to them registering for assistance.