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At the University Hospital, where the hallways are filled with nurses and other staff, more space and resources have been set aside to handle the dizzying number of coronavirus infections that started in June.
At the University Hospital, where the hallways are filled with nurses and other staff, more space and resources have been set aside to handle the dizzying number of coronavirus infections that started in June.
Photo: Bob Owen / Staff Photographer
At the University Hospital, where the hallways are filled with nurses and other staff, more space and resources have been set aside to handle the dizzying number of coronavirus infections that started in June.
At the University Hospital, where the hallways are filled with nurses and other staff, more space and resources have been set aside to handle the dizzying number of coronavirus infections that started in June.
Photo: Bob Owen / Staff Photographer
San Antonio officials have prepared temporary morgues to deal with the number of people who die in local hospitals.
“We are always preparing for contingencies, so we have refrigerated trucks on standby in the area in case they are needed,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at a daily news conference on Monday.
In the last week alone, 58 people with COVID-19 in Bexar County have died. Area hospitals were under “severe stress,” Nirenberg said, and only 10 percent of staffed beds were available.
At ExpressNews.com: New cases of coronavirus soar more than 20,000 in the San Antonio area; 11 more people die with the virus
Ken Davis, medical director of Christus Health South Texas, said hospitals and funeral homes were “out of space” for the deceased.
“It’s hard to talk about that, people’s loved ones are dying, but in the hospital, there are few places to place the bodies of loved ones,” Davis said. “We’ve run out of space, our funeral homes are out of space, and we need those beds. So when someone dies, we have to turn it around quickly.”
He noted that one of the largest hospitals in the city had two spaces for people who died.
“We need more than two,” said Davis. “We had 14 deaths in hospitals this weekend, plus other non-COVID patients, of course, are dying, so there is nowhere to put them.”
“We are looking for refrigerated trucks to lay bodies, to hold them, until the morgue or funeral home can pick them up. Which sounds terrible, but it’s true.”
In Nueces County, officials requested a mobile unit from the FEMA morgue (a refrigerated trailer) and body bags from the state. County Judge Barbara Canales told residents Thursday that “the sudden increase in deaths has created this need.”
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