A team of California National Guardsmen is set to land in SoCal Monday to help overwhelmed private mortuaries and hospital morgues handle the crush of coronavirus deaths in Los Angeles County.
Both the morgues and mortuaries say they simply don't have the room to accommodate the dead. The California National Guardsman will help the LA County Medical Examiner-Coroner process the deaths.
Sunday, an additional 91 people died from complications of the COVID-19 virus, according to the LA County Dept. of Public Health.
The department also reported a total of 7,544 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized with the virus, with 21% in intensive care. The county's totals for the entire pandemic are now 818,639 cases and 10,773 deaths.
Conditions are dire at hospitals in the county, with ambulances waiting up to eight hours to off-load patients, leading to a shortage of paramedic crews on the streets and longer 911 response times.
"Our deepest condolences go out to the many families mourning a loved one who passed away from COVID-19 and you remain in our thoughts as we begin this new year," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Saturday.
"The strategy for stopping the surge is fairly straightforward. When people stay away from other people, the virus cannot spread as it is doing now. The more we stay home and the more we avoid in-person activities with other people we don't live with, the more we reduce the spread of the virus.
"While health officer orders create the framework for protecting each other, it is our actions that stop people from being hospitalized and dying. When we follow the public health safety directives with intention, we avoid getting and transmitting COVID-19; this is how we stop the surge," Ferrer said.
CNS contributed to this report.