California funeral homes run out of space as COVID-19 rages As communities across the country feel the pain of a surge in coronavirus cases, funeral homes in the hot spot of Southern California say they must turn away grieving families as they run out of space for the bodies piling upLOS ANGELES -- As communities across the country feel the pain of a surge in coronavirus cases, funeral homes in the hot spot of Southern California say they must turn away grieving families as they run out of space for the bodies piling up. The head of the state funeral directors association says mortuaries are being inundated as the United States nears a grim tally of 350,000 COVID-19 deaths. Bob Achermann, executive director of the California Funeral Directors Association, said that the whole process of burying and cremating bodies has slowed down, including embalming bodies and obtaining death certificates. “And the worst of the surge could still be ahead of us.”Los Angeles County, the epicenter of the crisis in California, has surpassed 10,000 COVID-19 deaths alone. The number of daily newly reported cases in that period has averaged close to 195,000, a decline from two weeks earlier.

Source: ABC News January 02, 2021 20:43 UTC