Covid 19 coronavirus: US funeral homes run out of space as deaths surge

As communities across the United States feel the pain of an increase in coronavirus cases, funeral homes in the Southern California hot spot say they must turn away bereaved families because they run out of room to stack bodies.

The director of the state association of funeral directors says morgues are flooding as the United States approaches a dismal 350,000 deaths from Covid-19. More than 20 million people in the country have been infected, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

“I’ve been in the funeral industry for 40 years and never in my life did I think this could happen, that I would have to say to a family, ‘No, we can’t take your relative,'” he said. Magda Maldonado, owner of Continental Funeral Home in Los Angeles.

Continental is averaging about 30 carcass removals per day, six times its normal rate. Funeral home owners call each other to see if anyone can handle the overflow, and the answer is always the same: they are full too.

To keep up with the onslaught of bodies, Maldonado has rented additional 50-foot (15m) refrigerators for two of the four facilities it manages in Los Angeles and surrounding counties.

Continental has also delayed hospital pickups for a day or two while taking care of residential customers.

Bob Achermann, executive director of the California Funeral Directors Association, said the entire process of burying and cremating bodies had slowed down, including embalming bodies and obtaining death certificates. During normal times, cremation can occur in a day or two; now it takes at least a week or more.

Achermann said in the southern part of the state, “every funeral home I talk to says, ‘We’re rowing as fast as we can.’

“The volume is just incredible and they fear they won’t be able to keep up. And the worst of the increase could still be ahead.”

Los Angeles County, the epicenter of the crisis in California, has exceeded 10,000 deaths from Covid-19 alone.

Nationwide, an average of just over 2,500 people have died from Covid-19 in the past seven days, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The number of new cases reported daily in that period has averaged about 195,000, a decrease from two weeks earlier.

It is feared that the Christmas gatherings could fuel another spike in cases.

Arkansas officials yesterday reported a record of more than 4,300 new Covid-19 cases. Governor Asa Hutchinson tweeted that the state “is certainly on the rise after the Christmas trips and gatherings” and added: “As we enter this new year, our first resolution should be to follow the guidelines.”

In Louisiana, a funeral will be held today for an elected congressman who died of complications from Covid-19. Republican Luke Letlow died Wednesday at age 41. His oath was scheduled for Monday. He leaves behind his wife, Julia Letlow, and two children, ages 1 and 3.

In Texas, state officials say they only have 580 intensive care beds available, as staff treat more than 12,480 hospitalized patients with coronavirus, a number that has risen steadily since September and set record levels last week.

In Window Rock, Arizona, the Navajo Nation stayed in the middle of a weekend shutdown to try to reduce the infection rate. The tribe reported another seven deaths on Saturday, bringing its total since the pandemic began to 23,429 cases and 813 deaths. The reservation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

The number of infections is believed to be much higher than reported because many people have not been tested and studies suggest that people can become infected with the virus without feeling sick.

Arizona reported 18,943 new cases over the weekend today, a record for the state in any two-day period.