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Los Angeles County officials have temporarily lifted environmental limits on the number of cremations allowed to accommodate the growing accumulation of deaths due to COVID-19.
Licenses for crematoriums contain limits on the number of remains that can be cremated each month “based on the potential impacts of air quality,” the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) said in a statement to the press on Sunday. But, as a result of the coronavirus, the current death rate in the region is double what it was before the pandemic, resulting in a large accumulation of bodies in hospitals, funeral homes and crematoriums.
Following requests by the coroner and the county health department, AQMD issued an order suspending the cremation limits.
According to the order, as of January 15, there are more than 2,700 bodies stored in hospitals and in the coroner’s office, and the city’s 28 crematoriums have the resources to carry out more cremations without regulatory limits.
The latest outbreak of the virus was devastating for the Los Angeles area. For meeting more than 1 million were diagnosed with COVID-19, according to LA Public Health, and nearly 14,000 people died.
Earlier this month in Los Angeles, hospitals were running dangerously short of oxygen and other supplies, with some critically ill patients having to wait up to eight hours in ambulances before entering emergency rooms.
The cremation order is in effect for 10 days, but can be extended, as, according to the order, the coroner, “anticipates that another increase is approaching as a result of the New Year holiday, as deaths tend to occur 4 to 6 weeks after the gatherings, and
the capacity of the deceased management system, including hospitals, funeral homes, crematoriums and the coroner’s office is being exceeded. “