The Brave Women Undertakers Of New York Dealing With The Dead During COVID-19 & How They Do It

Lily Sage Weinrieb and Nicole Warring remove a deceased person from a funeral service vehicle. They both are Resident Funeral Directors at International Funeral & Cremation Services, a funeral home in Harlem, in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.?

Jenny Adames applies makeup to her aunt, a suspected COVID-19 victim, with the assistance of her cousin Vanessa Fernandez, before her aunt's viewing service, as a screen displays a media conference by U.S. President Donald Trump, during the coronavirus outbreak. Jenny is a Funeral Service Coordinator at the same funeral home.

Alisha Narvaez the manager at International Funeral & Cremation Services and Jenny Adames transport the casket of Adames's aunt in Harlem, Manhattan, New York, U.S.?

Adames said, "Limit your compassion please, because we gotta move onto the next one. There's no time to stop."

Alisha Narvaez, mother to a 17-year-old girl poses for a photo in her personal protective equipment before embalming a deceased person, during the coronavirus outbreak, in Manhattan, New York, U.S.?

At the beginning of the pandemic, Narvaez sent her daughter to live with her twin sister, but after two weeks the distance was too much. "It's always just been me and her and she wanted to come home," said Narvaez.?

"I gotta make sure I keep healthy just not to harm her. Although she's been in quarantine for several weeks, every day I come home from work is Day Zero for her," she added.

Narvaez stands in front of a row of deceased people stored inside cardboard boxes assigned to be cremated.

Adames sits inside the chapel at the funeral home following a viewing service.

"I'm not the emotional type to tell you the truth," Adames explained. "I don't want to sound heartless but it's a job. It's what I do."

Personal protective equipment (PPE) hangs in the prep room.

Narvaez wears personal protective equipment before embalming a body.

Narvaez takes a break.

Lily Sage Weinrieb, Alisha Narvaez, Jenny Adames and Nicole Warring (a Resident Funeral Director at International Funeral & Cremation Services) pose for a photo outside the building where they work.