engleski

Life and death on the Croatian islands during the COVID-19 pandemic

Island size, geographical boundedness, remoteness, isolation, small population and manageable access points protect islands and island communities from epidemics. An island’s unique characteristics affect the transmission of mainland epidemics and their frequency. But if an infection breaks out, the results are more severe, and the history of epidemics on islands shows us that islands are often more affected than the mainland and highly vulnerable. In the time of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, islands have demonstrated resilience with no or few cases and low mortality rates. The current pandemic is a unique moment for research on perceptions, practices and narratives of islands’ communities during crises, such as local responses to the pandemic, travel bans and problems with connectivity, the health care system challenges (especially for older adults and chronic patients) and the influence of epidemiological measures on the life and death of islanders. The global COVID-19 pandemic confronts us with mass dying, as well as individual and societal challenges when dealing with death and grief. Infected and dead are reduced to depersonalized data points in everyday reports. The epidemiological measures and restrictions include physical distance, the ban on larger gatherings and avoidance of any contact with the dead body. Funerals, funerary rites, commemorations and mortuary practices have been banned, abbreviated, postponed or transformed. Also, the process of mourning is being altered and the bereaved mourn without the usual support and care. Using qualitative approaches and methodology (semi-structured in-depth interviews, in-person or online), this paper presents the experiences and feelings of people during the COVID-19 pandemic on the Croatian islands, with a focus on death, funerals, mourning and loss of family members. Island communities accepted the new rules and adapted to the new circumstances, but indicated that island-specific and more flexible crisis management should be applied during this health crisis. Some epidemiological measures, such as social distancing, internal island travel restrictions and reduced gatherings, were highlighted by islanders as being challenging and sometimes unnecessarily strict for some islands and their specific situations. The pandemic has affected island communities, especially the deaths of loved ones, and how funerals and related rites and customs are performed. For family members of those who died from COVID-19 there have been additional factors and challenges that complicated loss. Funerals and funerary rites differ in urban and rural island communities. In rural funerals mourners were more often not adhering to COVID-19 prevention guidelines. When we compared results from islands and the mainland, there were differences in many aspects of burial and mourning practices. The bereaved on the islands adapted to the rules by creating new strategies and new forms of funeral gatherings and burial ceremonies. Digital and social media were used for connecting people and helped in coping with the challenges of mourning in solitude and isolation. In this global pandemic, island communities responded to impacts of pandemic crises and adapted to new circumstances of the “new normal”.

COVID-19 pandemic ; epidemiological measures ; island-specific crisis management Croatian islands ; funerals ; mourning

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