The lack of storage space for those who died of coronavirus forced the agency that regulates air quality in Southland to issue an emergency order on Sunday night, raising the limit on the number of cremations allowed. The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued the emergency order temporarily suspending authorization requirements for crematoriums.
CBS Los Angeles reports that the order was issued at the request of the Los Angeles County coroner and the LA County Department of Public Health.
The air quality management district limits the number of cremations that can be performed each month due to air quality regulations. However, the pandemic caused the region’s mortality rate to more than double, which put pressure on hospitals, funeral homes and crematoriums, the agency said.
On January 15, more than 2,700 bodies were stored in hospitals and in the coroner’s office, according to the order. “Mobile mortuaries” have already been set up outside Los Angeles County hospitals, where one person dies of coronavirus every eight minutes, the county said last week in Twitter.
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“The current death rate is more than double the pre-pandemic years, causing hospitals, funeral homes and crematoriums to exceed capacity without the ability to process the backlog,” AQMD said in a press release on Sunday. “The LA County coroner and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health have asked the South Coast AQMD to lift cremation limits to protect public health and respond to the current emergency.”
The order will be in effect for at least 10 days.
As of Sunday, LA County reported 1,014,662 cases of coronavirus and 13,848 deaths from the disease. According to the state’s latest figures on Monday, 7,328 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus in LA County. 23% of them are in beds in intensive care units.