Funeral director Wayne Bright has seen grief piled upon grief during the latest Covid-19 surge.

A woman died of the virus, and as her family was planning the funeral, her mother was also struck down. An aunt took over arrangements for the double funeral, only to die of Covid-19 herself two weeks afterward.

That was one of the most devastating things ever, said Bright, who also arranged the funeral last week of one of his closest friends.

Florida is in the grip of its deadliest wave of Covid-19 since the pandemic began, a disaster driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

While Florida's vaccination rate is slightly higher than the national average, the Sunshine State has an outsize population of elderly people, who are especially vulnerable to the virus; a vibrant party scene; and a Republican governor who has taken a hard line against mask requirements, vaccine passports and business shutdowns.