LA Coroner’s Office Looks to Refrigerated Trailers to Accommodate Surge

A nurse wearing personal protective equipment, including a personal air purifying respirator, works in a COVID-19 intensive care unit at Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Community Hospital on Jan. 6, 2021. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Los Angeles medical officials are preparing to use refrigerated trailers to house a potential need for surge storage during the ongoing CCP virus pandemic.

“In preparation for the pandemic, [we] installed refrigerated storage units in the beginning of April 2020. The units have remained largely unused until recently,” Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Jonathan Lucas said in a Jan. 8 press release.

“[Our agency] has sufficient storage for current needs; however, the department is expanding capacity to meet potential future demands.”

More than 900,000 residents of Los Angeles have been diagnosed with the CCP virus since the pandemic began last March. More than 12,000 people have died, according to the Los Angeles Department Health.

On Jan. 9, 221 deaths were reported, alongside 17,000 new cases.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has helped the county prepare for an anticipated surge as a post-holiday surge begins to take hold.

“Although [our department] has already secured most of the additional storage and is currently organizing the secondary location, we are very grateful to Cal OES for supplementing our resources with additional refrigerated trailers and providing rack systems,” Lucas said. “While there has been an increase in bodies, DMEC feels confident in managing the effects of the pandemic with the aid of our partners at Cal OES.”