NPR

The New Rules For Mourners In Wuhan Have Angered Many Residents

Zhang Hai's father died of the coronavirus on Feb. 1 and was cremated. Ashes can now be picked up but the government requires a chaperone for visits to the crematorium as well as for burials.
Zhang Hai stands on a bridge where he took his father out for a walk only about four months earlier. His father died of the novel coronavirus on Feb. 1. "The scenery is still here, but the person is gone," he sighs. He says he frequently comes to this park "looking for memories."

More than two months after he watched his father die of the new coronavirus, Zhang Hai has yet to bury him. The 50-year-old Wuhan native wants to pay his last respects alone — but that's now against government rules.

"[My father's] work unit called and made it very clear that I have to be accompanied when I retrieve the ashes," Zhang recalled. "Maybe they are well-intentioned, but I just want to collect my father's ashes alone before burying him. I do not want to have strangers around."

More than 3,300 people died of COVID-19 in China; just over three-fourths of those deaths were in the city of Wuhan. As new cases dwindle and quarantine restrictions

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