When a loved one dies during the Covid-19 pandemic

Many aren't able to grieve for a loved one in person because of the pandemic. Photo: Filepic

When Rachel lost her 84-year-old father to leukemia on March 26, she was devastated that she couldn't be at his funeral to perform the last rites for him. She was stuck in Cambodia where she is based and could not fly back home because of the country's movement control order that was enforced on March 18.

Her father, a retired salesman, was diagnosed with acute leukemia (AML) in June last year and for the last nine months or so, Rachel had been flying back to Kuala Lumpur from Phnom Penh (where she is working) every weekend to be with her father.