ORLANDO, Fla. – More than a dozen portable morgues will head to several hospital systems in Central Florida as some facilities have hit capacity, according to the Disaster Medical Coalition.
[RELATED: Hospital morgues at capacity amid COVID-19 surge, Orange County leaders say]
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The Central Florida Disaster Medical Coalition said each hospital system is going to see a different amount of portable morgues and the facilities can place them wherever the biggest need is:
- Three will go to AdventHealth
- One will go to Halifax Health
- Three will go to OrlandoHealth
- One will go to Leesburg
- One will go to HCA-East Florida
- One will go to HCA-North Florida
- One will go to Steward
- One will go to Cleveland Clinic
- One will go to Health First
[RELATED: Orange County crematoriums at capacity, owners blame COVID]
On Thursday, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings revealed some hospital morgues are at capacity.
“We were made aware that some of our hospitals are at capacity,” Demings said. “We are working to try to understand how we may be able to offer some relief in that regard, it is undefined at this time.”
Also this past week, an Orlando crematorium owner said they are running out of space to store bodies.
“COVID has never gone away,” owner of Mitchell’s Funeral Home Kimberly Mitchell said. “As you can see the hospitals are starting to run out of room. Refrigeration for people who have passed, they’re running out of room.”
The Florida Department of Health reports 389 people have died from COVID-19 this past week and 43,979 people have died from the virus in the state since the beginning of the pandemic.