COVID-19 deaths straining some Florida hospital morgues

MIAMI (AP) — Mounting deaths from the latest surge in COVID-19 have strained capacity at hospital morgues and funeral homes across central Florida.

While Florida's record levels of new cases and hospitalizations for the disease have leveled off over the past week, averages of daily reported deaths have continued to climb. Hospitals in Florida have reported to the federal government that roughly 279 patients have died every day for the past week, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, though that figure includes deaths suspected, but not yet confirmed to have been, from COVID-19. The figure just a month ago was 52 deaths per day.

AdventHealth's hospitals in central Florida are scrambling to secure additional resources to deal with the surge in deaths, the hospital group's spokesperson, Jeff Granger, told The Associated Press. The Orlando Sentinel reported the health system had reached morgue capacity at 10 of its hospitals in five counties: Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia.

“We have begun utilizing rented, refrigerated coolers at 10 of our campuses,” the hospital group said in an email obtained by the newspaper. “These coolers are quickly becoming filled also.”

Maria Rosales, who runs an Orlando-area company that picks up bodies from hospitals and delivers them to funeral homes or crematoriums, says she has seen an increase in deaths in the past two weeks.

“They have to rent out big trucks for extra storage spaces,” she said of the hospitals.

Recently her drivers have been stuck waiting at the funeral homes and crematoriums because several other companies are also trying to deliver bodies at the same time, she said.

Funeral directors also warned that their facilities are being overwhelmed, according to numerous news outlets.

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