As coronavirus cases surge in Texas and Arizona, areas hard hit in the state are requesting refrigerated trucks for corpses as morgues run out of space, CBS News reports.
At a meeting to discuss COVID-19 efforts July 13, officials from San Antonio and Bexar County said that morgue space in hospitals were running low, and funeral homes were running out of room. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said that only 10 percent of hospital beds in the county were available, and refrigerated trucks had been requested.
Officials in Nueces County, Texas, told the Texas Tribune that they had requested an extra morgue trailer since the county's morgue is full.
In Arizona, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office said at a recent meeting with the mayor of Phoenix that the office is at 96 percent capacity and plans to secure a contract for refrigerator trucks, AZfamily.com reports.
As of 7:42 a.m. CDT July 17, Arizona has reported 2,506 deaths due to COVID-19, and Texas has reported 3,728, according to The New York Times.
More articles on public health:
CDC restores missing COVID-19 data but will stop updating site as HHS steps in
27 states where COVID-19 is spreading fastest, slowest: July 17
Number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, state by state: July 17