The Tarrant County medical examiner has parked two refrigerated trucks outside his office in anticipation the morgue could soon reach capacity. Tarrant County reported 15 deaths from COVID-19 Wednesday, the most for a single day in three months, and a total of 913 people there have died since the pandemic started.
Among the 15 deaths reported Wednesday is a 17 year old who had underlying health conditions, the youngest person in Tarrant County to die from COVID-19.
"Tarrant County Public Health has felt the loss of each of the 913 county residents, young and old that have lost their fight. Let’s make sure we don’t lose another child to COVID-19," Health Director Vinny Taneja wrote in a statement.
The Tarrant County morgue can handle up to 100 bodies. Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani says the morgue is 85 to 90 percent full.
"I've been doing this 45 years. I've never seen anything like this," he says.
Peerwani says the refrigerated trucks, fenced off and under a temporary roof, double his capacity. They have not been needed yet, but he expects to use them in the next few days.
In addition to an increase in deaths from COVID-19, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley says the county has seen more suicides and drug overdoses. The murder rate in Fort Worth, he says, is at its highest level in 25 years.
"Our morgue, our medical examiner folks, have been talking for some time and knew we might get to this point," Whitley says. "We're there, and so I believe, initially, we're going to be bringing in a couple of trailers and then we'll just have to see where we go from there."
Whitley says funeral homes have also been filling up because people are delaying services due to COVID-19 restrictions.