LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — In yet another tragic reminder of the toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking on families in Southern Nevada, the interim Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy has distributed refrigerated trailers to funeral homes to help deal with the increase in deaths.
Murphy told the Associated Press that he has distributed nine 20 to 40-foot containers with special shelves to area funeral homes to hold bodies ahead of burial or cremation.
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Murphy said it was fortunate that Southern Nevada was able to obtain the containers early in the pandemic as many regions are now competing for a limited number of them as death rates rise.
In Los Angeles, for example, the coroner's office has expanded the county's capacity to store bodies from 500 to 2,000 by building a makeshift morgue.
KABC said the state and county provided 10 53-foot refrigerated trailers, five each, to expand capacity.
RELATED: Nevada reports highest single-day coronavirus death toll
42 people died from the coronavirus in Southern Nevada on Thursday alone, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
The SNHD reported 2,566 people have died as a result of coronavirus complications since the beginning of the pandemic.
