Maaki had wanted to help prepare Mary's body, but the funeral director said that was not possible.
Later at the cemetery, mourners sit on chairs spaced one metre apart. The usual choir is replaced by a recorded track blaring out of a single speaker. Maaki's sister Mary did not die from Covid-19, but its influence is everywhere in the ceremony.
Vigils before interment have been banned. Funerals are limited to 50 mourners - still more than the 20 allowed in Nigeria or the 15 in Kenya."I would have loved to ... make her beautiful, put make-up on her face, doll her up the way she liked,"Maaki said after the service. More than 3,500 miles away from Soweto in Cameroon's commercial capital Douala, Constantin Size's uncle died from a Covid-19 related condition, and was buried the same day without full ceremony.
In most regions of Cameroon, people usually gather for funeral events that can last days, even weeks. But the transportation of corpses and big burial ceremonies have been banned, and people are interred quickly.
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