LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Vegas funeral home has struggled to keep up with the demand during the pandemic, they have turned families away because of their packed service schedule.
The number of people dying from COVID-19 continues to climb in Clark County and people have had a difficult time scheduling a funeral service. Angel Rojas is the general manager of Casa De Paz Funeral Home in East Las Vegas and he says daily they have at least one funeral service a day.
“We have had to push our services for a couple of weeks because we don’t have anything available,” Rojas said.
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Rojas says COVID-19 is the reason to blame, they have never seen this demand before. People have died of COVID daily, he says more than half of their services are for COVID-related deaths.
“We have dealt with some families repeatedly within four months just because they have lost multiple family members, so it does get difficult,” said Rojas.
Rojas says about 80% of the people who have requested services are Hispanic. He says this demographic has been hit hard by this virus.
“We have been getting a lot of calls from them about COVID, we know that especially with the economy it has just been very difficult for that community as well,” explained Rojas.
Rojas says finding an open slot in their schedule is just one of many issues. The supply chain crisis has delayed shipment for caskets and urns by nearly a month. Before Rojas says he would receive the shipment within the same week.
“A lot of our manufacturing companies have been having issues with that as well where they just let us know we don’t have that in stock right now,” said Rojas.
Rojas says seeing things at the forefront of this crisis has taken a toll on his well-being.
“It is really sad to see the increase and having to serve all these families, I do see the impact and the damage it has in this community,” said Rojas.
He says he encourages everyone to follow safety protocols and help prevent the spread of this virus.
