In Catholicism, the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual before death are known as last rites. The Rev. Alex Gamino of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Indio has administered the sacrament formerly called the anointing of the sick recently to two people.

“When the person is sick or in the hospital, we will attend to the person and pray for them, pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon them by putting our hands over their heads and blessing them with the blessed oil for the sick on the palms of their hands and foreheads,” Gamino said. “That’s traditionally what we would do.”

But in the coronavirus pandemic, family and clergy are most likely unable to visit hospitals in their loved one’s final moments. Per Riverside County Public Health, visitation in hospitals is limited to protect patients, staff and community.

Lee Rice, media coordinator and communications specialist for Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage, said last rites are administered at the bedside of patients who are not in isolation and ruled out for anyone with COVID-19.

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California director of communications Todd Burke of Tenet Healthcare, a national health conglomerate operating Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, JFK Memorial Hospital in Indio and Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree, has a similar policy.

"Although we cannot allow members of the clergy to be physically present in the room of COVID-19 positive patients, we do recognize the importance of their visits to our patients and their families," Burke said. "Our staff have been assisting clergy and family to connect via phone or video chat capabilities."

John Andrews, director of communications for the Diocese of San Bernardino, said if priests are unable to enter a hospital, last rites can't be administered any other way.

"There's no way to do it without being with the person and anointing them physically," Andrews said. "The Bishop said priests are to provide the last rites and anointing to those who are only near death, and that includes people who are ill with COVID-19. There have been cases where we have been able to do that and cases we were not given access to a facility. In those cases, very sadly and regrettably, we weren't able to provide that sacrament."

Cristina L. H. Traina, a religious studies professor and chair of the department of Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, said it makes sense why last rites can't be done by phone.

"Last rites is like eucharist, holy orders, baptism and confirmation in that it involves the physical presence of the celebrant with the recipient and/or physical objects like bread, wine, oil, and water. Even penance involves the laying on of hands in absolution," Traina said.

Gamino said when he's able to enter a hospital to administer last rites, it's done with masks and protective gear, as well as extra precautions.

"We don't actually touch the person," Gamino said. "We'll pray over their heads, but without touching them. The recommendation from the church now is we use some form of a Q-Tip or cotton ball to anoint the heads and hands instead of our fingers."

As coronavirus cases continue to rise in Riverside County, Gamino said he hasn't administered the sacrament to anyone with COVID-19. When asked if he would, he hesitated for a moment.

"I wouldn't say no," Gamino said. "I think I would probably call a parishioner or two that I know in the medical field, ask their opinion first and go from there. I'm trying not to be a Superman saying 'I'm super healthy, I'll be fine!' I want to be as precautious as possible."

'These are hard noble times'

The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija is an Episcopal priest, visiting clergy to Church of St. Paul in the Desert in Palm Springs and founding director of TryTank, an experimental lab for church growth and innovation. He visits hospitals to deliver Ministration at the Time of Death. The short service is in the church's prayer book, "The Book of Common Prayer," which includes words passed down for generations since it was published in 1549 during the reign of Edward VI of England.

"It begins with the litany at the time of death where the family around the person can say this prayer together," Lebrija said. "It has an 'our father' and we have a couple of prayers. It’s very personal.”

Lebrija and his company TryTank Experimental Lab have 102 volunteers and an additional 60 priests on standby to provide "Ministration at the Time of Death" over the phone. They made their website Dial-A-Priest available to hospitals around the country.

But he added the preference is always to be present for the person and their family, holding their hand and anointing them with holy oil.

"That’s always the preference, but these are hard, noble times," Lebrija said. "Instead of lamenting the fact that I cannot do that, what I give thanks for is the fact we have the technology that allows this person to still be present to those words, even though physically we can’t. Because the alternative would be if this was 30 to 60 years ago, the person would be dying alone without the words."

Comforting families and healthcare workers

Rabbi Steven Rosenberg of Temple Isaiah in Palm Springs is also a hospice chaplain, and has extensive experience being with those in their final moments. He administers the "Vidui," which is the final confession in Judaism.

Since the pandemic began, Rosenberg is providing his services by phone, Zoom, Skype or any other way to support the sick and their families.

"If the patient is intubated and not able to talk, then my connection is more with the family, which I know makes it very tough," Rosenberg said. "It makes our job a lot tougher because we have to do our chaplaincy work through several barriers. It does make it more challenging, but we try the best we can. While it's not perfect, we have to be mindful of protecting ourselves and those rules are there for a reason."

Rosenberg also does grief counseling and said this period is uncharted territory for everyone.

"Where I would normally do that in person, I now do that on Zoom or on the phone," he said. "What happens even when someone passes, there's a lot of grief. Grief is a process that takes a long time, and we try to work with families after the patient has passed. A lot of that is now done online at this point."

Primarily, a chaplain is present to serve the needs of those who are ill and their families, but Rosenberg added there's another group of people who need support right now, those who take care of the sick.

"We forget health care professionals endure a heavy emotional toll, especially in times like this, and it weighs on mental health professionals as well," Rosenberg said. "It's something as a chaplain that I try and help them with."

According to Rosenberg, having a support system for healthcare providers, psychologists or anyone out there helping others during this time is crucial.

"What happens to a lot of people who are doing chaplaincy work or helping people through the last stages of life, we need to be able to put our own stuff outside and put our emotions in a box to be able to be present. That's why it's crucial for chaplains to have a good support system and they have someone to talk to," Rosenberg said.

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com(760) 778-4617 or on Twitter at @bblueskye. Support local news, subscribe to The Desert Sun.