David Penepent walked into the back chapel of a funeral home in Queens on Thursday and surveyed a scene unthinkable before the coronavirus epidemic. Thirty people had been laid out in the chilled room, the bodies held in boxes made of cardboard and wood with “handle with extreme care” printed on the sides in bold, green letters.

One by one, Mr. Penepent, an associate professor of mortuary science, and two of his students wheeled the bodies out on church trucks, first lining them up in the hallway, then bringing them to two vans parked out front. With the help of the home’s staff, they gently laid the boxes in the back of one of the vehicles, the first step in a long journey to a crematory outside the state.

“This is not just moving remains — this is handling people’s loved ones,” Professor Penepent said. “And you have to do it with care and compassion, respect and dignity.”

Since early April, Professor Penepent, 57, and his students have been transporting decedents from overwhelmed funeral homes around New York City to crematories in places as far as Pennsylvania and Vermont, helping grieving families and taking some of the pressure off a system strained by the epidemic.