Yes, it definitely is draining. I'm not sure how it was in other areas, but around where I am, the houses used to be pretty much open all the time for people to sympathise for the days between the person dying, and the removal taking place in the (for the most part, depending on the circumstances of the death). Neighbours and family members would bring loads of food, and most people would sit for a chat, tea and a sandwich when they'd call. It was more relaxed in one way, but people were calling all throughout the day so it was exhausting, and the family member they wanted to sympathise with may not have been there at the moment they called.
Some things had begun to change anyway as more people had careers and jobs outside the home so they couldn't be there all day for a few days, but Covid definitely changed things too, and they started having set times (a couple hours a day, over two days usually) for when the general public could call (neighbours and close friends could still call outside of those hours). The rest would just walk in, shake hands with the chief mourners, and leave again. As it was much more condensed, queues often formed, and the need for shuttle busses from the local church / pub / GAA carpark became a thing. Removals became a thing of the past in most areas, and it was just the funeral... So I guess the rural areas started doing things more like urban areas, and using funeral homes instead of reposing at home became popular too.
Sorry, that's the end of the rural mourning history lesson, I didn't intend on getting that deep into it.
