As confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus rapidly mount in Florida, the state’s medical centers operated by the US Department of Veterans Affairs are reportedly now in the process of purchasing “mobile refrigerated morgue trailers.”
According to documents obtained by Quartz, the trailers will be stationed at all seven of Florida’s VA medical centers, with an eighth being sent to Puerto Rico, to help provide more space, which suggests the hospitals are expecting a large influx of dead bodies related to COVID-19.
Florida VA’s facilities are located in Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville, Bay Pines, Lake City, West Palm Beach and Miami.
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay attempted to make contact with the Florida VA, and we’ll update this story when they get back to us.
The announcement comes as a grim reminder that many hospitals around the country are on the verge of being overrun.Yesterday, FEMA announced that it was sending 85 refrigerated trucks to New York City.
Over the last few days health officials have warned that Florida will be the next potential COVID-19 hot spot. Yesterday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a statewide stay-at-home executive order, which will start Friday and last 30 days.
As of now, the Florida Department of Health says the state has 8,003 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 128 deaths.
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This article appears in Apr 2-9, 2020.