The number of deaths surpassed the half-million mark for the first time since World War II as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on the Polish population, the Polish Chamber of the Funeral Industry (PIBP) said in a statement, as cited by the PAP news agency.
In 2021, there were 42,000 more deaths, a 7 percent rise, than in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, which was itself a record year at the time for funerals.
The number of cremations rose by some 12,000 last year to a total of around 200,000, according to the Polish Chamber of the Funeral Industry.
Its CEO Robert Czyżak told PAP the growing number of cremations was part of a steady trend reflecting “a generational shift” in Polish society with "a changing approach" to funeral services.
The organisation said the spike in deaths over the past two years “requires new action” from public institutions and the death care industry, to better regulate issues such as the transport of bodies, cremation and requirements for funeral-home employees.
To address these needs, a new funeral bill has been drawn up, the PIBP’s Czyżak said.
“Hopefully it will soon be submitted to parliament and become law later this year,” he added.
There are some 4,000 funeral homes across the country, according to the Polish Chamber of the Funeral Industry.
Poland's total number of coronavirus-related deaths surpassed 100,000 on Tuesday, public health authorities said, as the country battles a fourth wave of the pandemic and braces for a peak in COVID-19 omicron cases later this month.
Medical workers transport the body of a COVID-19 patient at a hospital in Bochnia, southern Poland. Photo: Omar Marques/Anadolu Agency/ABACAPRESS.COM via PAP
Poland on Tuesday reported 11,406 new coronavirus infections and 493 more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the country's total number of cases during the pandemic to 4,232,386 and fatalities to 100,254.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP